Legion: Year 1
by Philosophizes
Summary: The Legion has just been formed, and now the members must learn to work together as a team, form friendships, and make a name for themselves that one day the entire galaxy will respect. But, of course; this is the Legion- so it won't ever be easy
1. Constitution

**Chapter 1**

"**Constitution"**

* * *

><p>Rokk Krinn woke in his new bed, late-summer sun streaming in the windows, and decided he was utterly, undeniably, irreversibly insane.<p>

It was the only possible explanation. What _had_ he been _thinking? _

He got on that cruiser to find work, not become some sort of- of anachronistic glory-hound!

Yeah, okay. He was getting paid for this. But this was_ not_ what he'd pictured doing with his life.

Rokk forced himself out of bed and to the closet, staring at the outfits inside. There was nothing for it. He had a uniform now, and he had to wear it.

* * *

><p>Garth Ranzz rummaged in the well-stocked cabinets and hunted for coffee. He knew it should be there; he'd put some good, authentic Winathian Storm-Black Brew.<p>

He couldn't be home, but he could take some with him.

He pushed aside some basic food ingredients and found it.

Now for a coffee maker…

* * *

><p>Imra Ardeen pondered her new room and wandered into her new bathroom, noting the cunningly-hidden door in the wall. She ran her hands over it, not able to find any keypad or scanner, or even the old-fashioned door handles.<p>

She stood back for a second and thought about it.

Well, it _was_ her room, and RJ Brande_ did_ know a thing or two more than he let on.

_:Open?:_ she asked hesitantly with her mind, directing the thought towards the door.

Something in the door locking mechanism recognized her and the door slid open, silently.

Curiously, she poked her head in, and experienced a moment of pure silence.

No, no, he couldn't have…

But he had. RJ Brande had done the impossible, and found a psychic strong enough to shield her mind from the rest of the world.

And wonder of wonders, he'd gotten her old mentor to do it, as well.

* * *

><p>Luornu Durgo sat down to breakfast and was soon joined by a familiar face.<p>

"Hey," Garth said, absorbed in his breakfast coffee.

"Hi," she replied.

They enjoyed an only slightly-awkward silence for a little bit before Lu felt compelled to speak.

"So… how weird is all this?" she asked, gesturing at the building.

"Weird? Nah, it's cool. _Really_ cool."

"Sure, I guess, but- superheroes? After all this time?"

Garth shrugged. "Why not? You been paying attention to the news lately? Crime rates have been spiking through the roof. Don't you need heroes when things get desperate like that?"

Lu shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't think the galaxy's anywhere near desperate. I mean, how bad can it get?"

"Ah, come on! It _can't_ get bad, we're _superheroes_. Lighten up!"

* * *

><p>Tinya Wazzo almost forgot to have breakfast, completely absorbed by the heady feeling of finally being free- free from her mother's ever-increasing scrutiny, free from the mindless interests of the other kids of government officials, free from those government officials themselves- it was enough to make her feel like finding a meadow full of wildflowers someone and dance around singing something uplifting.<p>

Thankfully, though, there were no large fields around for her to publically embarrass herself in.

She took a deep, steadying breath and reminded herself that she was supposed to be showing her mother she was good enough to be on her own, old enough and mature enough for real responsibility. And how much more responsible could you get, being a superhero?

"There are people who would question that."

Tinya spun and found Imra in her doorway.

"Don't _do_ that!" she snapped. "It's _my_ head!"

Imra wilted a bit.

"I wasn't trying to," the telepath replied quietly. "I can't help hearing you."

Tinya got control of herself and smiled sheepishly –unconvincingly- at her new teammate.

"Sorry," she said, hoping she sounded sincere. "I'm not used to people knowing what I'm thinking."

Imra gave her a smile that was just as fake as her own and turned around, walking off down the hall.

_Stupid!_ Tinya chided herself. _She's a _telepath_! Social lying isn't going to _work_!_

* * *

><p>Rokk walked into breakfast to find the rest of his new 'team' already seated, and –annoyingly- not wearing their uniforms.<p>

Garth looked up.

"Whoa there, you expecting somebody?"

He scowled at the red-haired boy, who seemed to be having entirely too much coffee much too early in the morning.

"And what happens if someone needs us?" he demanded. "You're going to go running out in the clothes you wore on that ship?"

Garth rolled his eyes. "Fatalistic this morning, are we?"

"It's called being prepared!"

"Leave each other alone, boys, you're both the type to go rushing into trouble. There's no need to fight about it."

The two of them looked at Imra.

"Seriously, could you not do that?" Garth asked.

"I can't help it if none of you will shield your minds."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Tinya muttered quietly.

Lu saw Imra's reaction and intervened nervously.

"Did anyone else wake up this morning and have a minute when they didn't know where they were?"

"No," Imra said, looking a little perplexed by the question.

"Yes," the boys chorused, before glaring at each other.

"I've moved around too much to be surprised that I fell asleep somewhere I don't recognize," Tinya said depressingly.

Lu decided it was time for another change of subject.

"So do you think people are really going to like us? I mean, superheroes went out kind of badly, and now we're here, with a giant tower and costumes and- and- publicity!"

Tinya shrugged, but Garth started talking around his food.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Superheroes are cool."

Imra just sighed despondently.

"It wouldn't be new, people not liking me," she said quietly enough that no one heard.

"The superheroes from before ended up getting forced into retirement because they had no actual legal authority, just the force of public opinion," Rokk said. "_We_ have legal authority."

"They weren't _all_ bad," Garth retorted. "What about the heroes who cleaned up the mess that happened afterwards?"

Rokk leveled a look at him. "They cleaned it up, brought Earth into the galaxy, _and then retired._"

"But people still might not like us even if we do have authority," Lu said nervously. "The government has authority, and the police, and the military, but people don't always like _them._"

"But they're not despised," Rokk replied, determined to win the argument. "Because they follow the _law_. They have _rules_-"

He paused, thinking.

"Rules," Garth scoffed.

"Seconded," Tinya said.

"That's what we need," Rokk said firmly. "Rules."

* * *

><p>"Oh, <em>come on<em>-"

"No, Garth," Imra interrupted. "We do. We need rules. We _can't_ be loose cannons, we _can't_ be vigilantes. If we want respect, we have to prove we're worth the responsibility we've been given."

Tinya closed her mouth and swallowed the words she was about to say.

"Rules are a good thing," Lu said firmly. "They make sure that people are safe, and keep society together, and don't do what they aren't supposed to and keep people in their proper place…"

She trailed off, looking uncertain.

"See?" Garth needled.

Lu's conviction returned and she scowled at him. "Still."

"I'm with Lu here," Tinya said. "And Imra. Responsibility is something you prove that you're worth having, not something you just get."

Rokk looked at Garth again, challengingly.

He snorted. "_Fine, fine._ Let's come up with some stupid rules."

* * *

><p>Rokk had hunted down a stack of paper and a pen and sat down at the table. Imra had cleared off the remnants of breakfast, though Garth clung stubbornly to his coffee.<p>

"Okay, guys, brainstorming time!" Lu said. "What's first?"

"How is this going to work, anyway?" Tinya asked. "Is it going to be a list or what?"

Imra fiddled with her hands. "I don't think a list will be enough. We need- a charter, something that tells how we'll run things."

"A constitution, you mean," Tinya said.

Imra nodded.

Rokk put his pen to the paper.

'_The Legion Constitution'_

"What's in a constitution, anyway?" Garth asked, sounding bored.

"What the different parts of government do," Tinya told him. "What length the law is allowed to do, what it's not, rights, that sort of thing."

"Are we going to have different parts?" Garth asked. "I mean, really?"

"Of course there'll be different parts," Lu said. "There's got to be someone in charge, and then everyone else."

"There's only five of us."

"So? There'll be more Legionnaires eventually. Five isn't enough to cover a town, much less a city, or planet!"

"Huh."

"We should have rules about what people are and aren't allowed to do," Lu said firmly. "Where we can get involved and where we can't."

"And about how to enforce those rules," Rokk put in, writing busily. "That was another issue with the old heroes- no accountability. No one could make them follow the law, so it started getting broken more and more."

Lu nodded. "Definitely."

"What sort of a system are we going to run?" Imra asked, looking concerned. "Is the leader just going to be able to order everyone around, or is everyone going to get a say?"

"Voting, duh," Tinya said.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to talk about in these sections?" Rokk asked.<p>

"Well, what have we got?" Tinya asked, taking the paper from him.

"Leadership, voting, dos and don'ts, enforcement, limits," he recited from memory.

She took the pen from him as well and grabbed more paper.

"Okay," she said, writing a heading on the first sheet. "_'Leadership'_. I'm thinking a job description, what they're allowed to do, how we get new leaders."

"Sounds good," Lu said.

Tinya got another sheet. "_'Voting'_. Majority rules?"

"How else would it work?" Garth asked. He seemed to have forgotten his rule aversion and leaned in closer.

"There should be a quorum limit," Imra said. "Otherwise we could have three people making decisions for what might be a huge group of people."

"You're really ambitious, aren't you?"

"I'm being forward thinking, Garth."

"When do we announce a vote?" Lu asked. "And do we know what to vote on?"

"The UP Senate has regular meetings," Tinya pointed out. "We could do that, too."

"We should," Rokk agreed.

Tinya wrote quickly to catch all the ideas bouncing back and forth.

* * *

><p>Garth looked at the stack of paper that had accumulated over the course of the few hours they'd been talking.<p>

"I think we're done," he said. "That's a lot of writing."

Rokk frowned. "No, there's still something missing."

"We've got the meetings worked out, what the leader's allowed to do, what we're allowed to do, the rights people've got, letting new people in, how to make sure people follow the rules- what else is there?" Tinya asked.

Rokk kept frowning, deep in thought.

"We've got what we're allowed to do," he said slowly. "But what about what we're supposed to do? What's our duty?"

"Uh-" Garth looked uncertainly over at Imra.

"We're supposed to help people who need it," Rokk said firmly. "To keep the peace, to keep people safe. Shouldn't that be in there?"

Lu thought back over the long conversation.

"Constitutions need preambles, right?" she asked.

"Yes," Tinya said, pointing the end of the pen at her. "We haven't got that yet and that's something we definitely need."

* * *

><p>Something had been bothering Imra for a good time now. Rules were good; it was wonderful that they had rules. So was having a system in place to enforce those rules.<p>

But this was an important thing the Legion was turning into- she had known it was important before, when the Legion had first been instated.

But now…

It was getting so much bigger.

Something this big needed a commitment, a promise, a serious pledge.

An oath.

She quietly took a piece of paper and the pen, left on the table while the others debated over something Lu had found in the writing.

Imra started putting words down on the paper, words that had been in her mind for a while.

_This I swear to people everywhere: to use my powers in the name of justice, to uphold the law, to protect those who need protection. To my teammates I swear to support them in their efforts to keep the peace…_

It was too cumbersome, but it was a start.

She skipped a line and tried a revision.

* * *

><p>"Okay, fine, we can keep it in there," Garth grumbled.<p>

"Good," Tinya told him primly. "We need that bit."

He saw an opening and smiled to himself.

"Okay, I compromised," he said. "Now there's something _I'm_ going to insist on."

"What?" Rokk asked, annoyed.

"I want a provision for amendments."

Rokk took another look at him, and Garth braced himself for a scathing remark.

"That's a good idea."

"Wait- what?"

"It's a good idea," Rokk repeated. "It means that if something comes up we haven't thought of, we can add it in."

Garth still looked a little stunned that the other boy had agreed with him.

"And you _were_ the one who said that we've used up enough paper," he pointed out. "Put that in there, Tinya, _'Amendments'_."

"Huh, so you can be agreeable," Garth muttered.

"I'm _realistic_, not _unreasonable_."

* * *

><p>Imra listened to the last bits of debate winding down.<p>

"Can we agree that we've got everything now?" Rokk asked.

Tinya and Lu had spread out the papers on the table to pour over them better.

"Yep," Tinya said.

"Absolutely," Lu replied.

"I have something," Imra said quietly.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Garth asked.

"I was thinking," she said. "About how serious this all is- _no matter what you say-_"

Garth realized that she had caught his thought and shrugged his shoulders a little in apology.

"And something this serious needs a firm commitment. A promise, of a sort- an oath."

Rokk considered it.

"Interesting idea."

"I like it," Tinya said. "Politicians take oaths of office, and police officers-"

"-in church, when you join," Lu put in. "And doctors."

"Yeah, so why not us?"

She sneaked a look at Garth.

"Don't look at me like that," he said. "I'm with you on this."

"Did you have something in mind?" Rokk asked.

Wordlessly, Imra handed him the paper she'd been working on.

"It's the last one."

He looked it over quickly, and then started reading aloud.

"To the Legion of Superheroes, I make this solemn pledge: to use my powers for good, to fight for justice, and to protect the innocent; to aid my fellow Legionnaires, and to keep their secrets safe. I choose a new name to honor the heroes of the past: I am…"

"I am what?" Lu asked.

"You say your name, there," Imra told her. "The name that you choose for the Legion."

"Are you sure about this 'honoring the heroes of the past' thing?" Rokk asked.

"Just because they aren't always remembered well doesn't mean that they didn't do good things, or that they weren't good people," she said firmly. "And someone will bring it up eventually. It's no good trying to run from your past. It catches up to you eventually."

There were a few nervous looks exchanged around the table.

Rokk coughed self-consciously. "All right, point taken. But- 'to keep their secrets safe'?"

"It makes it sound like we're_ trying _to trick people," Garth complained. "Or go behind their backs, or something."

"I thought trust was a big part of what we needed to do," Lu said.

Imra looked at them all sternly.

_:And what, we'll have team trust if you don't _know_ that people won't go around telling your secrets?:_

Everyone heard her in their heads and pulled back a little, reflexively.

"Okay, that stays too," Rokk said. "You make a good point, Imra."

She nodded, accepting the compliment.

"So…" Garth said. "Who's going to be in charge of all this? Who's going to be Legion Leader?"

"Rokk," Lu said quickly.

"Rokk," Tinya agreed.

Garth looked at Imra beseechingly.

"You'd do well as a deputy leader or something, Garth," she told him.

He sighed and sat back in his chair.

Rokk looked at them all skeptically.

"You're sure you want me as a leader?"

"Hey, you obviously put the most thought into it," Tinya pointed out. "We wouldn't be sitting here discussing any of this if it wasn't for you."

He shifted in his chair for a moment, a little uncomfortable.

"Alright, then. As my first act as Legion Leader, I'm going to say we put these words Imra thought of to good use."

* * *

><p>'<em>To the Legion of Superheroes, I make this solemn pledge: to use my powers for good, to fight for justice, and to protect the innocent; to aid my fellow Legionnaires, and to keep their secrets safe. I choose a new name to honor the heroes of the past: I am-<em>

_-Triplicate Girl.'_

_-Phantom Girl.'_

_-Saturn Girl.'_

_-Lightning Lad.'_

_-Cosmic Boy.'_


	2. Auditions

**Chapter 2**

"**Auditions"**

_THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, NOW RECRUITING!_

_The LEGION OF SUPERHEROES will be holding open auditions for membership. Young people possessing any power are encouraged to come and demonstrate their capabilities to current Legion members. A select few will become full LEGION members. For further details, please reference the contact information below._

_Thanks- the Legionnaires_

* * *

><p>Maria Goldsmith stood on the viewing platform, constructed high in the branches of a pine tree, and inhaled deeply.<p>

The forest and adjacent grasslands smelled beautiful after a late-spring rainstorm like the one that had just ended. She couldn't wait to get out of the house fast enough to see the planet in all its glory.

The trees of the forest blew gently in the breeze, leaves sparkling from the gathered rain. The dirt of the plains had changed from a dusty tan to a deep, rich brown; and the surface of the lake lapped gently against the rocky beach off in the middle distance.

She laid one hand on the bark of the tree, much darker now from the rain, and traced the lines of thick, verdant moss which stood out so strikingly.

The breeze escaped the trees of the forest and flowed up to the platform. Maria smiled as her long black hair was blown back and forth, refusing to think of the mess it would be later; and spread her great white wings to catch the air.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called, far below.

Maria leaned over the edge of the platform to look down at her second-oldest brother.

"What are you doing out here, Iphron?" she yelled back. "The whole village knows you never move an inch more than necessary!"

"But there's a thing!" he replied, voice still raised. He spread his wings, slightly larger than his younger sister's but a light grey instead of white. A powerful push brought him up a few feet- and left him floundering wildly for height and speed. His feet hit the ground a few times as he ran around the tree until he eventually managed to get enough lift to start rising.

Maria stifled a laugh in her hands. Iphron should know better than to try and fly without a running start.

Finally he managed to swoop through the large open area kept clear of branches to land next to his little sister.

He handed her a crumpled sheet of paper. "Here, I printed it out for you. You remember those kids who were on the news, the ones who were supposed to be starting a superhero group? They're holding auditions."

Maria uncrumpled the paper and looked at the short message, then sat down on the edge of the platform, legs dangling off the edge.

Iphron hung around for a little bit, waiting for her to say something. Eventually he gave up and flew away.

Auditions to be a superhero? That sounded so… contrived.

She remembered the video that had been played on the news- three girls, two boys, none of them a day older than fifteen. There had been some media coverage, but no one was really excited about it. It was a sort of joke, a farce, a fancy that would soon pass.

What was this, a publicity stunt?

The sad thing was that the Legion could, potentially, be a powerful force, one for law and justice and morality.

A thought came to her as she watched a few clouds drift across the sky.

Well, why not? Why _shouldn't_ it become something like that?

All they needed was some respect. Some maturity. No one would listen seriously to a bunch of teenagers running around in bright colors and jumpsuits, even if they _did_ have legal authority.

* * *

><p>Gigi Cusimano threw back her head and laughed.<p>

"Will you look at this, Gim?" she asked excitedly. "New Metropolis! A whole city full of opportunity!"

"So optimistic, Gigi," the taller boy chuckled. "Why aren't you usually like this?"

"Because usually we're not out on our first solo patrol! Just think, two months ago they wouldn't let us out on our own without a minder, and now we're hear patrolling all by ourselves!"

Gim Allon had to agree that it was great, being allowed out on their own.

He looked up at the towering buildings of the city and smiled up at the sun. And frowned.

There was someone climbing the outside wall of an apartment building.

He poked his partner. "Gigi."

"What?" she asked, still playful. "See a girl you like?"

He shook his head. "No. Up there."

Gigi shaded her eyes and looked up.

"Oh, of course, the first suspicious thing we see, and where is it? A few hundred feet up, on the side of a building we don't have any jurisdiction to enter."

Gim hadn't taken his eyes off the figure, high over their heads. There was no doubt about it, whoever it was definitely wasn't a tenant who'd locked their keys inside the apartment.

"Who said anything about going inside?"

Gigi took her eyes off the person scaling the wall and looked at him in alarm.

"Wait, Gim-"

It was too late. Gim was already taller than the first three floors and still growing. People were starting to notice and point.

_"GIM!"_ Gigi yelled, hands cupped around her mouth. _"YOU _KNOW_ WHAT CHIEF NORG THINKS ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING! HE'LL HAVE OUR HIDES!" _

Far up above, Gim tapped the thief on the shoulder.

"Did you misplace something?"

The man took one look at the giant behind him and promptly lost his grip on the wall. Gim reached out a hand and caught him, then carefully lowered him down to the ground where Gigi had already resigned herself to the situation and had pulled out a pair of restraints.

"There, see? That was easy," he said when he had shrunk back down to a mostly-normal height.

"No one is going to trust me to do anything on my own for years," Gigi moaned.

"I'll just tell everyone it was my idea," Gim told her reassuringly. "And it has the virtue of being the truth."

Something hit him in the back of the head.

"Ow," he said, more on reflex than because it had hurt.

"Freak!" someone in the crowd yelled.

"Hey!" Gigi yelled back. "Whoever that was-"

Gim put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Gigi, really."

"No, it's not," she grumbled. "You're an officer of the law."

Gim shrugged and bent over to pick up the ball of paper that had hit him in the back of the head, smoothing it out to read what it said.

Gigi craned over to look. "The Legion, huh? Guess that shows their approval rating."

"Let's take this guy back to HQ," he said, stuffing it into his pocket.

* * *

><p>Later, after standing through a reprimand from the Chief of Police about proper conduct where his point about using all the tools at his disposal was completely ignored, he would dig it out of his pocket and take another look at it.<p>

* * *

><p>Nura Nal lounged in her large, cushioned chair, and thought about the dream she had just woken up from.<p>

It had been… strange. A city, a tower, other people- children, teenagers, about her age. A feeling a fading, time melting, the group growing older, growing, shrinking, faces changing…

She was tempted to walk in on her mother and ask her about it.

As if thought had elicited a reaction, her mother started hacking in the next room.

Worried, Nura rose and grabbed one of the silver water jugs that were now kept around by the staff for just such a time. She grabbed two crystal glasses on the way in and used her foot to push open the door.

Her mother lay in bed under thin sheets, all in blue and silver and pale rose, as befitted the balmy summer day outside. The windows were open, the curtains and awning over the canopy bed fluttering in the slight breeze.

"Ah, Nura," her mother wheezed. "I was waiting for you to come in. Tell me about your dream."

"After you drink something, Mother," she said sternly, a little shaken. Even this long sick, her mother still had the strongest precognitive gift on the planet. She truly deserved the title of High Seer.

She handed the full glass to her mother, who managed a few sips before she started coughing again.

Nura took the glass from her and started to talk.

"I'm in this city, standing in front of a tall tower," she said. "There are people around me, people my age. Then more people appear, and there's a crowd, and then people leave, and new people are added, and the crowd gets a little smaller, and then a little bigger- and then it all goes black. I know there aren't any buildings that look like that here on Naltor, Mother. I can' t figure out what it means. I don't know any of the people I'm seeing, and that's what people get the clearest dreams about, right? People they know, because it's easier for the precognitive part of our minds to predict what they'll do?"

Her mother smiled at her. "You know the story of how we got our powers?"

"Of course I know, Mother. Mysa went chasing after the sorcerers we were supposed to be descended from, remember?"

"How could I forget? Well, some of that magic- some of that mysticism- comes back to every Naltorian, at least once in their life. I have had a few of these times in my life. It comes from the strength of my power. This could very well be your first."

Nura sighed. "I don't want mysticism, Mother! I want to be able to change what I see! I don't care what everyone else says, it has to be possible- the future is just a matter of probability, which is only math, which people can change!"

Her mother shook her head sadly. "_'Just probability'_? Nura, you hope so. It is not a bad thing, to want to change what you see. But isn't that where you ran into trouble so recently? Lying about what you saw to try and make people's lives better?"

Nura felt her face get hot. "I already _know_ the carnival was a bad idea, Mother. I learned my lesson about that, don't worry."

"I'm not worrying." She reached over to her bedside table. "Here, this was included in the foreign affairs reports I got today. Do you remember hearing about the Legion of Superheroes?"

Nura nodded and took the data pad that her mother handed to her.

She looked down and the room faded out.

The people were back, sharper and clearer than ever. She recognized a few people now, the ones closest- they were the Legionnaires she'd seen on the news. The rest of the people were off in the background, a faceless, indistinct mass, but undeniably there.

The scene dissolved and she saw her mother wearing a knowing smile.

"Got a heady dose of mysticism, didn't you?"

Nura stared at her. "How-"

"It's in your expression, dear."

Nura looked down at the pad, seeing the actual words for the first time, then looking back up at her mother, pained.

"I- Mother, I'm sorry, I know that Mysa has already left, but- there's- this-"

"I know. Go pack, love. I'll see you out."

* * *

><p>Dirk Morgna was hiding out in his room.<p>

Again.

Not that there was any point, because it wasn't like anyone was ever home anyway. Except him.

His father was off somewhere, doing scientific stuff, completely ignoring his only living family- family that had come very, very close to not living not too long ago.

He felt heat on his face and reached up to wipe away the tears that had leaked out, tears that now flowed a temperature hot enough to have been sitting in a teakettle.

He sniffed and glared at himself in the mirror, unable to avoid the obvious changes in his eyes- they had been burned black, the iris and pupil changed to reflect the colors of the fire that now burned someone deep inside him; a fire he could call up at will.

Dirk threw himself off the bed and out of his room. But why would he? He'd just burn whoever he tried to touch- he'd already melted a few pots, in the days just after his 'accident'.

He collapsed onto the couch and flicked through the media feeds.

_"In further news-"_

_"Gresha against Yfium-"_

_"-calls for reconciliation efforts."_

_"-asks for children with superpowers."_

_Wait- what?_

He sat up straighter, paying close attention.

Within seconds, he was scrambling for something to write with. He couldn't be sure that the contact information would be played again.

So his mother had deserted the family long ago, and his father evidently didn't care whether he lived or died? Fine. They could watch him on the news and see what they'd been missing.

* * *

><p>RJ Brande, the Legion's financer, picked up the day's news and laughed heartily.<p>

His son looked up at him curiously for a moment, then went back to his toys.

"Sir?" the other boy in the room asked hesitantly. "What's so funny?"

Brande chuckled one last time and wiped the tears away.

"Oh, nothing, lad. It just looks like those kids I put up in New Metropolis are showing their stuff after all."

"Really?" the small blonde boy came over to look.

The older man pointed. "Look, see? Right there. They're holding auditions for new members."

He got a mischievous look in his eyes. "Why, if I wasn't just borrowing you, I'd send you off to try out! You could hang about with Luornu."

The boy smiled politely in a way that managed to convey that he was going to put up with the man's sense of humor no matter what he said.

"Here, you take this," Brande said, shoving the notice at the boy.

"Thank you, sir," he said, and walked out.

Once he was in the hallway, he looked down at the thing he'd been handed; reading as he walked.

This- looked be interesting.

* * *

><p>The day of auditions dawned mostly clear but a little overcast, a slight chance of rain predicted.<p>

Triplicate Girl waited eagerly by the window looking out over the square Legion Headquarters was currently occupying.

Phantom Girl came over to sit with her. "See anyone yet?"

Trips shook her head. "Not yet. But the start time isn't for a half-hour yet. There's still time."

A half-hour later, when Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl opened the main doors of Legion HQ for the people coming to auditions, there were exactly five people waiting.

* * *

><p>"Well, that was a stunning disappointment," Lightning Lad grumbled. "Why'd we go through all that work just to have only five people show up?"<p>

"The numbers don't matter," Cosmic Boy retorted. "So long as they're good."

Garth sighed.

"Imra, call the first person in," Cos told her.

Presently, the door opened and a girl walked in, a costume made of tan and brown, looking decidedly rustic. Large white wings spread out from her back.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The girl looked at him critically. "Maria Goldsmith."

"And your power is…?"

"Flight." She gestured to her wings. "Tracking. I can tell where anyone or anything has gone just by being someplace they were. It gets harder as time goes on to pick up a trail, but I haven't run across any yet that I can't follow."

_:Good talent:_

_Yes, it is, _Cos thought back at her. _Hey, Imra, would it be possible for you to… hook us up or something, so we're not discussing these people right in front of them?_

_:Of course. Give me a moment.:_

He felt a slight change in his mind.

_:There.:_

_Wow, this is weird,_ he heard Tinya think. _But kind of cool._

_I don't think it's weird,_ Trips said.

_Why aren't I getting brain interference or something? _Garth asked. _I can only hear what you're saying to me._

_:I'm the hub,:_ Imra explained. _:Everyone's thoughts go through me, and I pass on what you try to say to the others.:_

Garth looked appreciatively at her. _Definitely cool._

* * *

><p><em>Whoo, tall guy,<em> Tinya remarked.

Lu nodded.

Cos spoke. "You are…?"

The applicant cleared his throat. "Gim Allon. I shrink- er, grow- um, it depends on your perspective."

"My _perspective?_"

Gim shrugged. "Well, for me, right now I'm shrunk. When I 'use my power', I've really stopped using my power. But everyone else says I get bigger, and that that's my power."

"Waitaminute," Lighting Lad said. "You were born really tall?"

"Ever heard of Big City? That's where I'm from."

* * *

><p><em>I hate precogs.<em>

_:Garth!:_ Imra said, shocked.

_I do,_ he insisted. _One of them scammed by parents not to long ago. Took their money and _lied_. About something important._

Imra sensed it was a good idea not to press and turned her attention back to the current applicant- Nura Nal, of Naltor.

Phantom Girl looked like something was bothering her.

"Nal?" she finally asked.

"You're probably thinking of my mother," Nura said, scuffing a foot against the floor. "Kiwa Nal. She's-"

"-the High Seer of Naltor! I _knew_ that!" She looked at Nura. "I met your mom, once, at this official diplomatic thing."

Nura smiled at her and sort of friendship was formed- the sisterhood of shared mothers.

* * *

><p>A boy walked in, trailing fire.<p>

Garth nearly fell out of his chair, he tried to back up so fast.

"Woah, hey there, careful!" he called.

"I know, I know!" the applicant replied, and reined in his fires. "I'm Dirk Morgna. I control heat, light- usually that means fire."

"Yeah, we'd noticed," Trips said dryly.

A boy came in, a little short, blonde.

"Hello," Imra said. "What's your name?"

The boy looked at her. "I'm Jan Arrah."

"What can you do?"

"I'm Tromian."

"Cool," Garth said, leaning in. "Can I see?"

Jan nodded and raised his hands.

* * *

><p>Back in Brande's home, a call had generated heated discussion.<p>

* * *

><p><em>:Well, what do you think?:<em> Saturn Girl asked them all.

_I'd've liked more people,_ Garth said, clearly feeling a bit squashed.

_They all have good powers,_ Phantom Girl reminded the group. _Useful ones._

_But how many should we let in?_ Trips asked. _I mean, we did say a 'select few' in the ads._

_That was before our dismal turnout,_ Cos told her. _The situation changed a while ago, and I don't think we can afford to turn any of these people away._

Saturn Girl thought.

_:I'm going to agree with you, but I want to talk to them all first for a few minutes on my own.:_

_Go ahead._

* * *

><p>Brande shut off the call angrily and sat back in his chair. He couldn't get around it, unfortunately. He'd walked himself right into this, truly.<p>

He rang for his assistant.

* * *

><p>"So, what did you find?" Triplicate Girl asked eagerly as Imra closed the door behind her.<p>

"All of them are here because they want to be, at least," she said. "Maria and Nura are here because they think the Legion can be something bigger than it is, Gim is here because he isn't being allowed to use his powers to enforce the law –he's from the local SciPol department-, and I think Dirk is here to show he's worth something."

"What about Jan?" Cos asked.

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

"But they're all okay, right?" Phantom Girl asked. "Good people, who care about what we're going to do?"

Imra nodded. "All of them, even if their reason for being here doesn't quite line up the way I'd like it too."

Cos looked at his team. "So, are we all in agreement? Everyone gets in?"

* * *

><p>The five applicants were lined up in the room, shoulder to shoulder. Cosmic Boy stood in front of them.<p>

"Now, repeat after me_- To the Legion of Superheroes, I swear this solemn pledge-_"

* * *

><p>Later, a call came through. Triplicate Girl picked it up.<p>

"Mr. Brande!" she exclaimed happily when his face popped up on the screen. "It's great that you called today; we just swore in some new members!"

He smiled at her. "That's great, lass. I'm sorry my news isn't quite as wonderful."

Lu's smile began to fade.

"What do you mean?"

"I got a call not too long ago from the President. Apparently there's been an ruckus about letting teenagers have legal authority. You're going to get a minder."


	3. Advisory

**Chapter 3**

"**Advisory"**

* * *

><p>"We should have expected it," Phantom Girl said morosely. "I<em> knew<em> this was getting too good."

"We'll put up with it," Cos told her. "If we prove we're good enough, eventually they'll let us work on our own."

"And you're sure of that?" Saturn Girl asked skeptically.

Triplicate Girl had her face pressed up against the window, looking out over the plaza, now dimly lit by the setting sun. "Hey, I know that guy!"

Lighting Lad leaned over. "Yeah? Who is it?"

She pointed. "That's Marla Latham. He's Mr. Brande's secretary."

"I thought _you_ were his secretary."

She shook her head. "No, I was his personal assistant. I managed his household stuff. Mr. Latham did the business work."

"So does that make us a business?"

Trips left the window and went for the stairs. "I'll go let him in."

The other Legionnaires followed her down just in time to see her swept up in a big hug.

"Mr. Latham," she said. "These are my teammates."

He smiled at them. "Yes, I remember you all from the last time Mr. Brande was on this planet."

"Oh! And we added some new people, too! We've got ten Legionnaires now!"

"That's great, Lu. Now, listen, kids, did Mr. Brande call you about the minder you're supposed to be getting?"

"Yes," Garth told him, clearly unhappy.

"Well, he did some wrangling with the UP Administration- they wanted to have some sort of government inspector in here, or a SciPol officer, but through Lord-knows-what reasons, he got them to accept me instead."

Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy looked at each other.

"Isn't this a conflict of interests?" she asked eventually.

"Completely," their new minder agreed.

* * *

><p>Breakfast the next day consisted mostly of briefing the new recruits on the minder situation.<p>

The man beamed happily around at everyone seated at the table.

"It looks like I'm going to be here awhile, so just call me Marla," he said.

Gim Allon, newly named Colossal Boy, just shrugged. "Okay, Mr. Marla."

The other Legionnaires, old and new, weren't quite as happy about the idea of a minder.

* * *

><p>Breakfast dispersed and Lightning Lad found himself sitting silently with Nura Nal, now Dream Girl.<p>

He stared at her while attempting to be merely looking in the same general direction as her, unsuccessfully. He could tell that she had noticed. He should probably say something.

_Okay, Imra, you wanted me to be nice, I'll do smalltalk._

"_Soo…_ you're from Naltor?"

"Of course," she said.

"And- what were you doing before you decided to come try out?"

"I was at home, taking care of my mother."

"Oh. Is she old, then?"

Dream Girl shook her head. "No, she's still young. But she's very sick."

"How long have you been helping her out?"

"Well, she was only a little sick for a year or so before my sister left, and then started getting worse. But she did it slowly, so I didn't notice and went off by myself, like Mysa –my sister- did. Then I had a dream about my mother d- deteriorating, and I came home."

Garth looked down at his coffee, swilling it around in his cup a little. "That's why you came home?"

"Part of the reason." She seemed to be getting a little embarrassed. "I had- disgraced myself, where I was, so it was really for the better, I suppose."

"Where were you before?"

"I was part of a traveling show- a carnival troupe."

He put his coffee cup down a little harder than he had too, a cold feeling creeping into his chest.

"Oh; really?" Garth wasn't entirely able to keep his tone neutral.

Nura started feeling a vague sense of dread. "It was- interesting," she said carefully.

"Told fortunes, did you?"

"What else would I be doing?"

This was_ not_ going well anymore.

"Here, let me guess- you were disgraced because you lied about something, and hadn't before, right?"

A little flash of precognizance gave Nura the only answer she needed.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Lightning Lad. They came and offered me however much money I wanted-"

"And you just took it!" he yelled. "You lied and took it!"

"Sometimes I don't always see helpful things!" she replied. "Sometimes I don't get _anything!_ I didn't see anything about what they asked me to, but I _did_ dream about how heartbroken they'd be if I told them I hadn't seen _something!_"

"Yeah? Well, did you think about how _heartbroken_ they'd be if you told them there was hope and then they found out you _lied?_" Garth demanded.

"And as far as the money goes, I _sent it back!_"

"So? That was my _sister_ you lied about! My _twin sister!_"

He stormed out of the room.

* * *

><p>Gim wandered into a room in Legion HQ, exploring.<p>

Cosmic Boy was in this one, holding a stack of papers.

"Hey," he said casually.

The Legion Leader jumped a bit and dropped the papers. They hit the ground and scattered everywhere.

Gim bent over to help pick them up. He took a look at the one in his hand.

He frowned a little and reread it.

"What's this?" he asked.

Cos looked up. "Legion Constitution. We wrote it the day after we got together."

Gim picked up a few more papers.

"What, all of this?"

Cos nodded. "It took us most of the day."

"So- what's in it?"

Cos explained while they picked up the rest of the papers.

Gim was slightly worried at the end of it.

"What if someone doesn't agree with the rules?" he asked.

Cos looked at him oddly. "Well- then I suppose that they can bring it up with the Leader."

"But what if the Leader disagrees? What if it was the Leader's idea, and they refuse to change an order or something, even if it's a bad order?"

"Why should a Leader issue bad orders?"

"Everyone on this team is only human- or, well, you know what I mean. Everyone's going to make mistakes at some point."

"The Leader should be above that."

"And what if they aren't?"

Cos looked at him, expression growing colder.

* * *

><p>Maria was carrying boxes of newly-delivered supplies up the main stairs when Triplicate Girl appeared out of nowhere at the top of the stairs.<p>

"Do you need some help?"

"No, thank you," she told the more senior Legionnaire. She wasn't particularly in the mood to talk with anyone, and mostly wanted some time alone to think about her new life.

Trips looked down at the pile of boxes stacked up by the door.

"Sure you do," she said.

"No, I really don't," Maria told her, but Triplicate Girl had already bounced down the stairs and split herself into three different girls, all a different color.

"So," of the Triplicate Girls called from below, the one all in orange. "Why'd you pick the name 'Dawnstar'?"

Maria skipped using the stairs and spread her wings instead, coasting down to the boxes.

"It is the descriptive name I was given."

"Descriptive name?" Purple Triplicate Girl asked.

"On Starhaven, many people have a personal name, a family name, and a descriptive name," she told her. "Dawnstar is mine. Other people have different sorts."

"How is Dawnstar descriptive of you?"

"I was born early, early in the day. When my mother brought me outside for the first time, the morning star was up in the sky."

"That's not really anything to do with you, though."

"Yes, it is."

"I'm not seeing it, then."

Dawnstar stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at the boxes still standing against the wall. Well, Triplicate Girl was using her powers.

She jumped off and was down at the boxes and back with a load within the time it took to blink. She went back for another box, and another, and another-

Triplicate Girl suddenly found herself without anything to do, and Maria gone; flown off somewhere faster than she could see.

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl knocked politely on the door to Dirk Morgna's rooms.<p>

He opened it a crack.

"May I come in?" she asked.

The door opened farther, but Dirk was nowhere near the door when she entered. He had retreated to his bed.

"What?"

Imra looked over at him. She was picking up things again without trying too.

Dirk was certainly not the happiest person she had ever met.

"I just wanted to come and see how you were settling in," she told him.

He shrugged and looked away.

"Fine."

She knew better.

"Are you sure?" She walked closer and sat on the bed. In his head, Dirk flinched away. "I know when I talked to you yesterday you didn't seem very happy."

"Just nerves, I guess," he told her, smiling wanly. "But I got in, hey? So everything's good."

He was still lying.

Imra shook her head. "No, you weren't happy about your family. That sort of thing doesn't go away overnight."

Irritation flashed across the new Legionnaire's face for an instant.

"That's my problem, then."

"It's everyone's problem, if we're going to be working together," Imra pointed out mildly.

"No- it's still just mine!" he snapped angrily.

She crossed her arms. "Even if it didn't –or doesn't-affect the Legion, it affects me. I _feel_ your pain, Dirk."

Sun Boy stood abruptly and glared at her. "You- How can-"

"Telepath."

"Stay out of my head!" He stalked over to the door and yanked it open. "And you can stay out of my room, too!"

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl had slept in late accidentally and hurried down the stairs for breakfast, hoping no one would be there to ridicule her for it.<p>

She slipped through the wall of the dining room and stopped short when she saw Dream Girl sitting at the table.

"Don't bother," the new girl said morosely. "I knew you were going to come and saw what food you were going to pick so I saved you some trouble and took it out."

She gestured to the table and Nura saw that the food she had been thinking about was already there.

It was a little creepy.

"Uh… thanks?" she said, and sat down.

It took her a few moments of stuffing food in her mouth to remember she should probably try to have a conversation with her tablemate.

"So- what are you still doing in here?"

Nura sighed. "Lightning Lad had a disagreement with me."

Tinya snorted. "Oh. Yeah, get used to that. He's the get-mad-quick, go-punch-someone-now type."

Nura sighed again and reflected it would probably be worse than that for her.

* * *

><p>Jan, newly Element Lad, sat with Marla Latham on the roof of Legion HQ, enjoying the view of New Metropolis's skyline.<p>

"So why did you decide to come here and try out for the Legion, Jan?" Marla asked. "I know Mr. Brande- he was having a joke when he mentioned making you come and try out."

Jan looked out over the city.

"I don't really know, Mr. Latham," he said. "I just had a feeling about coming here. It just seemed right; like it was the best thing I could ever do."

Marla smiled at him. "That sounds like Mr. Brande's vision, all right. But are you sure that your parents will be happy with this? Your father only agreed to let you off the planet to help Mr. Brande because they were good friends."

"My parents will understand," Jan told him. "I'm sure Mr. Brande has already told them."

Marla shook his head and stood, a little stiffly.

"Well, you have fun up here," he told the Legionnaire. "I'm going to go get to know your teammates a little better."

* * *

><p>Not much time passed before Jan found himself with more company.<p>

The winged girl –Dawnstar, he reminded himself- was standing in the doorway back down to the building, looking slightly uncertain.

"I am sorry to intrude," she said politely as he turned to look at her. "I can go find another spot-"

"No, that's fine," Jan told her, smiling kindly. "I don't mind."

She settled uncomfortably in the chair Marla had vacated. Her wings, folded behind her back, kept her from really sitting in the seat- she had to perch on the edge of it, her long primaries sticking out through the gap between the seat and the armrests.

They sat in silence for a while before Jan spoke.

"Are you enjoying your day here?"

Dawnstar looked off over the city, avoiding his face.

"Triplicate Girl seems unable to take a hint, and quite enjoys helping."

"A little too much?"

"She is very enthusiastic."

* * *

><p>Marla Latham wandered around, looking for one of the Legionnaires to show up.<p>

Eventually he became aware of shouting coming from down the hallway.

He passed an open doorway and found Cosmic Boy and Colossal Boy in a heated argument, Lightning Lad offering choice commentary.

On later reflection, he would come to the conclusion that he should have known better.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Marla asked, stepping into the room.

Cosmic Boy and Colossal Boy gave him identical glares.

"No one wants you here, old man," Lightning Lad told him. "We're big kids. We can take care of ourselves."

Again in unison, Cos and Colossal Boy turned to glare at the other Legionnaire.

"There was no call for that," Cos said.

"Show some respect," Colossal Boy told him.

"I was just saying what everyone was thinking," he said defensively.

"And who are you to know what I think?" Gim snapped.

Cos, who was about to say something very similar, switched his train of thought.

"You aren't Imra, Garth."

"Still."

"What's the problem here?" Marla asked again.

"Really, Mr. Marla, I don't think you need to get involved," Cos told him, trying not to sound annoyed. "We're sorting it out ourselves."

"It didn't sound like it."

"Well, we are," Gim told him, not bothering to try and hide his annoyance.

They all stood there staring at each other for a few moments more before Marla decided that he was going to get nowhere, this soon. The Legionnaires needed to get to know him.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy sat on his bed, legs drawn up, arms around his knees.<p>

Who did Saturn Girl think she was, getting into his personal problems? Wasn't it enough that he had shown up to auditions? Why did she need to go around prying at his mind? He'd take care of his own problems, and do it without bothering anyone else!

After all, he was used to it. He'd been doing it ever since he could remember.

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl retired to her room and shut herself in the psi-room.<p>

She sat on the floor and buried her face in her hands and let herself scream for a moment.

It shouldn't be so hard for people to get along! And it shouldn't be so hard to get people to understand that she couldn't help but hear their thoughts!

And she was very sure that she shouldn't be dreading having to get up in the morning and face them all again.


	4. Someday, Pt 1

**Chapter 4a**

"**Someday, Part 1"**

_From the Daily Galaxy, Metro Section:_

_On Thursday the new 'Legion of Superheroes' made its first arrest. The five children discovered, chased down, and apprehended the petty thief Ben Pares. _

_In other Legion news, the team took on an adult advisor by the name of Marla Latham, mostly known for his work as RJ Brande's personal assistant._

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad was lounging in the call room of Legion Headquarters, feet up on the counter in front of him; minding the phone.<p>

He spun around in the chair.

The phone beeped.

He tried to grab the counter and stop himself, but his hand slipped and all he managed was to yank himself out of his chair.

Garth hit the floor with a thump, failed for a moment, pulled himself up , and hit the call button.

"Hello?" he asked, trying not to sound like he'd just scrambled to attention.

No one spoke. There was another beep.

On a hunch, he looked up at the screen.

Text scrolled across it.

* * *

><p>"I can<em>not<em> believe this," Colossal Boy said for the third time in a very short while.

"We've got our own cruiser," Triplicate Girl said from her seat by the console, voice a little faint.

Lightning Lad spread his arms. "I _told_ you- this is _awesome!_"

Saturn Girl sat in the pilot's seat, a little apprehensive.

The fact that a cruiser had been provided implied that someone had anticipated the Legion working on worlds other than Earth. But no one seemed to have thought of the fact that the Legion still had no credibility whatsoever, but had been summoned to deal with something that, she feared, would probably be quite outside their range of experience.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl wandered about the cruiser and eventually found a room marked with her name.<p>

Well. They got quarters on the ship. Fancy.

She phased through the door and looked around. One bed, one footlocker, one door opening to a small bathroom.

There was a familiar beep and she scrambled for her personal communicator stuck in her belt.

"Hello?"

"Tinya, dear, what _have_ you been doing?"

She groaned inwardly. It was her _mother_ calling.

"What do you _want,_ Mom?"

"Aren't I allowed to check in on my daughter's well-being? And where _are_ you, sweetie, nobody's answering my calls at your club's headquarters."

"It's not a _club,_ Mom," Tinya told her, irritated. "We're a law enforcement agency. Like the Science Police."

"Of course you are, dear."

"And we're in space. We're going to Marzal."

There was a silence.

"_Why?"_ her mother asked, voice a little strained.

"Because someone called and asked for help, that's why."

"Tinya, you _know_ I don't like you running off around the galaxy-"

"_Mom!_ I'm a _Legionnaire!_ That's our _job!_"

"-your Aunt Enya _disappeared_ doing this sort of thing, Tinya. _Disappeared_. No one ever found out what happened to her-"

"I _know,_ Mom!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "But I _told_ you, I'm a _Legionnaire_-"

"That doesn't _mean_ anything, Tinya! Stop talking like it does!"

Phantom Girl bit her tongue.

"One day it will, Mother. _One day._"

* * *

><p>She hung up and stuffed the communicator into the footlocker when it rang again a minute later.<p>

Lightning Lad jumped down from the cruiser's docking ramp and surveyed the open-air hangar they'd been told to touch down in.

The spaceport was bustling and crowded. People crisscrossed the open pavement to personal crafts and commercial shuttles and the doors of the spaceport itself.

Not one single person paid any attention to the Legion.

"See anyone familiar?" Element Lad asked, coming up beside him.

"No…"

Lightning Lad rubbed the back of his neck. "You'd think whoever'd called would be waiting for us, but there's nobody here."

Triplicate Girl emerged from the cruiser and tugged self-consciously at her uniform.

"I still feel kinda funny being out in public in this," she confided to Saturn Girl.

The telepath shrugged.

"Imra!" Lighting Lad called. "You see anyone who's waiting for us?"

She surveyed the crowd.

"No. I guess we're not important enough for that."

Phantom Girl thought back to her conversation and scowled.

"But _someone_ called us!" he exclaimed. "_Someone_ wanted us here!"

Marla Latham closed the cruiser door behind him.

"Cheer up, kids! I'm sure we'll find out why you're here!"

"Don't call us kids," Sun Boy muttered, heading for the spaceport doors.

* * *

><p>They had, Dawnstar reflected later, found out why they had been called rather soon. It was just a matter of one wrong turn away from the more interplanetary area around the spaceport to find the native part of the city.<p>

And the unmitigated gang violence occurring by the minute.

The Legionnaires stood at the end of the street, struck by the robbery going on in full daylight right in front of them.

"Hey, look! It's those kids!"

One of the robbers turned and pointed a gun at them.

"Back off, pipsqueaks! This is our business!"

"It's our business too!" Garth said defensively, lighting beginning to crackle along his arms and shoulders. "We were called, buddy! Now scram!"

Imra sighed and rolled her eyes.

More robbers emerged from the ruined storefront.

A large man with a goatee beard shoved some rubble aside and glared at the Legion. Another man, equally as large, all in black and carry something long and nastily-heavy looking, followed him.

The glaring man yelled something at the robber with the gun. He lowered it and backed off.

"So-" His voice was deep and thick, like he had an accent or a clogged nose. "-you kids want to play superhero? Come fight Rogarth."

The other man, the one in black, hefted his weapon and steeped forward.

"And Mace."

Lightning Lad rushed forward, electricity already arcing towards the one called Rogarth.

It hit him square in the chest, flowing across the cloth of his shirt and grounding in his hair and the metal pieces of his outfit.

Rogarth started to run towards him.

Garth blinked and lowered his arms a little bit. The lightning started to fizzle out.

"Oh, move!" Triplicate Girl yelled. Her purple form separated from the rest and slammed into his side. Rogarth's fist just missed the two of them as they fell sideways to the ground.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Colossal Boy's attention was being taken up Mace.<p>

The man was much too fast for someone with that much muscle, but he dodged and weaved and just kept dealing blow after blow to his body with the nasty heavy weapon he was holding.

He saw the next hit coming and tried to block it with his arm and get his fist in for a blow, but Mace moved faster. He turned the blow into a feint and changed the direction of the weapon midstrike to swing upwards into the Legionnaire's jaw.

Gim's head snapped back and his knees buckled a bit as his vision started to black out.

* * *

><p>Element Lad stood alone at the end of the street, blocking the escape route.<p>

The robbers eyed him for a moment.

One leered.

"He's just a little boy in some funny clothes. Let's go!"

Jan raised his hands. A few of the robbers faltered, but then sped up again when nothing happened.

Silently, he counted in his head.

_One… two… three… four… five…_

The robbers got closer.

* * *

><p>Rogarth skidded to a stop and turned around, reaching for Lightning Lad, who was just getting up.<p>

Triplicate Girl saw the danger.

"No; Garth!"

Rogarth's hand grabbed the back of his collar.

Triplicate Girl's other two bodies split apart from each other and attacked Rogarth's back simultaneously.

A few second later, there were two simultaneous cries of pain.

Quickly, Lightning Lad twisted his hands behind him and blasted his attacker. Rogarth grunted and let him go.

The Triplicate Girls quickly formed up around him.

"He's tough," Orange Triplicate Girl said to him quietly. "You hit him and it's like trying to punch a starcruiser."

"Doesn't seem to be electrocutable either," Purple said.

Rogarth raised his fist and swung again.

A lump of masonry lifted off the ground and slammed into him.

He was knocked off his feet, but pulled himself back up again, as if he'd only tripped. Another chunk of masonry rose and hurled towards him.

Rogarth hit it midair and it broke apart. He grabbed a three-foot fragment and threw it at Cosmic Boy, who'd been pulling at the metal supports embedded in the rubble.

He ducked and pulled at another lump.

* * *

><p>Dawnstar had seen Colossal Boy's predicament from her position above the fight. She swopped down and caught her teammate below his shoulders, lifting him a few inches off the ground. She managed to carry him a few meters before she felt her muscles about to give out.<p>

Maria started to drop carefully, planning on setting Colossal Boy on his feet, then land and support him until he got his bearings again.

But his foot caught a piece of masonry and she tumbled out of the sky, slamming Colossal Boy into the pavement face-first. She landed heavily on her back, neck and spine arched very uncomfortably by the bulk of her now-askew wings.

A blonde man appeared in her field of vision, accompanied by the robber who had first spotted the Legionnaires.

"Get her moving again," the blonde man ordered.

The robber grabbed her by the front of her shirt and threw her up into the air. Dawnstar sorted her wings out quickly out of long practice flying and managed to twist around into a hover.

The blonde man looked up at her, and smiled forebodingly.

Maria strove for altitude.

Below her, the man dissolved into light and zoomed upwards into a beam. He hit Dawnstar in the chest before she'd even managed to finish one flap.

Saturn Girl's focus was taken up by a black-haired woman, all in red.

She was talking in the younger woman's head.

_:You're not Titanian,:_ Saturn Girl told her foe mentally.

_:Don't underestimate me, girlie. You don't have half the experience I do. _None_ of you do.:_

The woman sent a hard, sudden pulse of telepathic energy at her. Saturn Girl steadied herself after a second and refocused.

_:Who _are_ you?:_

_:Name's Mystelor, sweetie. Don't mess with me.:_

Another mental blast. Harder, this time, that took longer to recover from.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy could not believe what he was seeing.<p>

Element Lad, a skinny little kid -not too tall, either, now that he bothered to notice- was holding his own against a full gang of experienced robbers who towered over him by at least foot in all cases. He was doing something to the surrounding air and ground, because people were toppling over and either sinking or breaking holes into the pavement.

A little orange being- squat, rotund, and slightly slimy- sidled up behind the fighting Legionnaire.

Sun Boy threw up his hands.

"Element Lad! Look out!"

Jan risked a quick glance behind him and dodged just as the orange sidler lowered his head and fired a beam of energy.

The robbers still standing ducked and scrambled out of the way, and Sun Boy found the beam headed straight towards him.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl guarded Marla Latham, who was watching the proceedings with a worried interest.<p>

"I _really _think you should leave, Mr. Marla," she insisted again.

"Nonsense. I'm supposed to be watching all of you."

"Well, it would help if you watched us from the cruiser." She eyed a robber who was getting too close for comfort carefully, though he was apparently focused elsewhere.

Something flashed through her mind quickly- Nura could only ever describe it as a quickly-fading, washed-out blue-grey feeling- and she_ knew_ what that robber was going to do next.

"Don't be silly. I couldn't _possibly_ see you from there."

The robber whirled but Nura was already there, blocking his swing and aiming for his unprotected area. He fell heavily to the ground, her foot still planted in his solar plexus.

"But you'd be _safer._"

* * *

><p>Tinya had ventured into the robbed store and was attempting to calm the staff and the few customers.<p>

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying," she told the one she assumed was the store manager earnestly. "I don't speak Marzalian, or however you make a demonym of this planet."

"He'll come," the store manager said, equally as earnest.

"What?"

"The Scream of the Devil will come. He will save us."

* * *

><p>Up above, Dawnstar and the light man played a dangerous game of tag.<p>

Dawnstar could fly at the speed of light, but this man was light. She had to keep pushing herself to stay just ahead of him. Always ahead, even if it was only by centimeters…

An ear-splitting scream tore the air. The beam chasing her contorted and twisted back on itself, then headed straight for the ground. Where it struck, the man reformed. He stumbled away, calling to his cohorts.

"Fall back. Come on! Let's go! It's that one again!"

* * *

><p>The scream tore into Saturn Girl's head. It ripped at her mind and threw her concentration. Her mental attack dissipated and she stumbled backwards, landing on her hands and knees.<p>

Mystelor fared slightly better. Her eyes rolled up slightly and she swayed in place, gaze glassy and clouded.

* * *

><p>The man Rogarth shook his head and slowed a bit. Triplicate Girl pulled herself together and tripped him up.<p>

The other man, Mace, ran by and grabbed him; shoulders hunched up in an attempt to block his ears.

"Come on!"

* * *

><p>A second scream echoed through the street.<p>

The sound forced Sun Boy to his knees, hands clamped over his ears. It had no effect on the sound.

He looked up muzzily and saw the beam that had been heading towards him hit seemingly thin air and double up on itself, shrinking and disappearing.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl knew the third scream was coming before it happened, but it didn't help her at all.<p>

She grabbed Marla Latham and hoped that none of the robbers bothered to come her way.

* * *

><p>The third scream cut through the darkness clouding Colossal Boy's consciousness and added to his rapidly-developing headache. He sat up, clutching his head.<p>

* * *

><p>Dawnstar righted herself and scanned the area. The robbers were fleeing and she tagged them mentally.<p>

She searched for the person screaming.

A fourth scream split the sky and rammed straight through her head. The world spun, and the buildings below swirled and moved above her.

Maria staggered in the sky, fouled up her wingbeats, and accidently propelled herself downwards.

* * *

><p>Inside the store everyone relaxed.<p>

Tinya picked herself up and winced at the pain in her head.

"'Scream of the Devil', huh? Good name."


	5. Someday, Pt 2

**Chapter 4b**

"**Someday, Part 2"**

* * *

><p>The Legion reconsolidated in the ruined store.<p>

"_You_ said your power was tracking," Garth accused.

"It is," Dawnstar told him, cradled in Gim's arms. "But the last scream made me lose what trail I may have had on them; and I cannot find it again. I don't know if it is because my head is still reeling, or if the scream somehow obliterated all of their traces."

She looked up at the teammate holding her.

"Thank you for catching me, Colossal Boy. I believe I can stand now."

He carefully placed her on the ground.

Cos sighed and turned to the store manager.

"'Scream of the Devil', you said?"

The manager nodded. "He turned up a year ago, when the newest of these gangs began to move in. He has driven them all off before, but they always return."

A few of the Legionnaires traded looks.

"Where is he?" Sun Boy asked. "_Who_ is he?"

The manager gave him a look.

"I don't know, and if I did know I wouldn't say."

"Why?" Triplicate Girl asked, confused.

"What do any of you care? None of you are from this planet- no one cares about Marzal but the people here."

"We've always been used," one of the shoppers called. "We're easy to attack, out here. The United Planets doesn't help at all!"

"Well, _we're_ part of the United Planets," Phantom Girl said firmly. "And _we're_ trying to help."

The locals clearly didn't believe her.

* * *

><p>The Legionnaires walked down one of the streets of the city.<p>

"We_ are_ trying to help," Lightning Lad muttered, kicking a can into the gutter.

Element Lad sighed and looked at the can. It evaporated into a spurt of oxygen.

"I mean, we _did_ fight those robbers, didn't we?" Garth asked the thin air. "We wouldn't have done that if we didn't care."

"People don't like being exploited," Dream Girl told him.

Garth glared at her for a moment, then snorted.

She started to study the buildings.

* * *

><p>Dawnstar looked resignedly around. She wanted to track the robbers and catch them, she really did. But she just couldn't find any place to start.<p>

An old man, brown-skinned and gray-haired, came out onto the porch of one of the small townhouses lining the sidewalk.

He waved at her from across the street. She waved back.

He said something.

She stopped and listened, but it was too faint for her to hear.

"I'm sorry, sir," she called. "But I can't hear what you said."

The other Legionnaires, who had kept walking, paused and turned.

The man called louder.

"Legionnaires! It's good to see you!"

Garth threw up his hands. "_Finally! Someone_ appreciates us!"

"Do you need something?" Colossal Boy asked loudly.

"I've been waiting for you to turn up!" the old man replied. "I was starting to wonder if you hadn't gotten my call!"

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, the Legion sat around in the old man's small backyard, various beverages in hand.<p>

"Did you call us about the gang problem here?" Cos asked eventually, sipping his drink.

"Partially," the man said, settling into his chair. "They have been causing quite a bit of trouble. Has anyone told you about them yet?"

"Ran into them already," Phantom Girl told him.

The old man raised one white eyebrow. "Did it go well?"

He looked at their expressions.

"Not so much, hmm?"

The front door opened and then slammed shut again.

"Hey Pop! Where are you?" a man's voice called.

The man turned in his seat.

"I'm out in the yard, Haban! I have some guests!"

"D'you need me to bring out some drinks or something?"

"No, no need. I got 'em already!"

Another door closed loudly and the man turned back to the Legion.

"That was my son. He's home for his lunch."

Marla Latham smiled at him. "The two of you live here together, Mr…?"

"Kione Stewart," the old man told them. "Nah, there's my grandson, too. He's the other reason I called you."

"Other reason?" Sun Boy asked.

"He's rather like all of you, really. Out at all hours, trying to keep the people around here safe. Works hard at it, too. Made himself a bit of a reputation."

Saturn Girl saw it coming.

"The locals gave him a nickname, right? 'Scream of the Devil'?"

Mr. Stewart smiled. "Been talking to some people, have you?"

The door opened again, quieter than before.

"That's him now," Mr. Stewart said brightly. "Troy, come out here! There's some people I want you to meet!"

"Coming, Grandfather!"

The back door opened and Troy Stewart, the Scream of the Devil, stood visible behind the screen door.

He dressed simply, in black and white, and likewise kept the rest of his appearance to a minimum. His hair was kept short, only long enough to stand out an inch or so from his scalp. He was clearly athletic from his build.

It seemed to take him a moment to process what he was seeing.

Then he yelled something at his grandfather in the language of the planet and stormed off. The front door slammed again.

Dawnstar stood.

"_Now_ I can track him."

* * *

><p>The Legion finally managed to cut Troy off in a courtyard.<p>

"Come _on!_" Triplicate Girl pleaded. "We could use your help!"

"Or you could use _ours,_" Lightning Lad said.

"Stop it," Phantom Girl scolded him. "We lost that battle. _Badly._"

"I am _not_ helping you people!" Troy said loudly.

"Why?" Element Lad asked.

"Because you'll be gone again in a few hours," Troy said. "You'll either catch these people –which seems unlikely- or fail, and either way you'll be gone. You won't stay around for the next time this happens. And it won't be too long from now. They always come back."

Saturn Girl stepped forward. "You're right- we won't stick around. But that's because we have duties to other places, too. And if more criminals show up, all anyone has to do is call us and we'll come back to help. But right now we could really use your help."

"I'm not-"

"If you don't want to fight with us, fine," Cosmic Boy said. "We won't make you, and we won't try. But you know who these people are, what they do, the streets in this area. We _need_ that information."

"That's all we're asking," Element Lad said. "Truly."

Troy took a deep breath and a good half of the Legionnaires flinched away.

He held if for a moment, looking a little confused.

Then he sighed.

"_Fine_. Information _only._"

* * *

><p>The Legionnaires escorted Troy onto the new cruiser so everyone could have a seat.<p>

"So, who were those people attacking the store?" Colossal Boy asked.

"The Taurus Gang," Troy told them. "There are five of them in the central gang. They hire thugs to beef up their manpower for jobs."

"Tell us about these core people," Cos ordered.

Troy glared at him a moment before continuing; counting them off on his fingers.

"There's Rogarth, who has superstrength and some invulnerability. Mystelor, who can read minds and has telekinesis. Shagrek fires destructive beams. Quanto can change into a light beam. Their leader is the man called Black Mace. He's big, but fast, and attacks with a mace."

"Is he named after the weapon or did he pick it because of his name?" Sun Boy asked, curious.

Troy shrugged.

"Anything else?"

"Shagrek is pretty slow. He just creeps everywhere. Rogarth may be super-strong but he's not super-fast. You can dodge his swings. Mystelor can't move big things, the best I've seen her do is a rock about the size of his-"

He gestured to Colossal Boy.

"-head."

Cos stood.

"Okay, we know what we're facing now. Let's go find this gang."

* * *

><p><em>:Everyone in position?:<em>

_Close enough,_ Cosmic Boy answered cautiously.

_C'mon, let's go get them, then!_ Lightning Lad said, itching to go.

_I can see them from here,_ Colossal Boy put in.

_Do we really have to do this?_ Sun Boy complained.

_We talked about this already,_ Cos told him firmly. _We have to have some way to communicate, and the only thing we have is Saturn Girl's telepathy. Deal with it._

Imra sighed to herself.

_:Troy?:_

No answer.

_:Troy?:_ Saturn Girl tried again.

_I still can't believe I let myself get convinced into coming,_ Troy replied. _One of the grunts thought he could sneak up on me. I took care of him._

_What, already?_ Triplicate Girl asked, sounding impressed.

_Are you all right?_ Element Lad asked.

_I'm fine. Let's just get on with it._

_RIGHT!_

They all felt Lightning Lad stand up.

_No, you _idiot! Phantom Girl screamed at him. _He didn't mean it as an _order!

It was too late. Garth had already run up to the entrance Colossal Boy was watching and had challenged the hired muscle going in and out.

Dawnstar hovered, and covered her eyes as he suddenly found himself surround and outnumbered. One of the thugs hit around the back of the head. He slumped to the ground.

Saturn Girl sighed in everyone's minds.

_All right then,_ Cosmic Boy told everyone reluctantly. _Let's go._

* * *

><p>Dawnstar watched as the hirelings entered the building, a few slipping away from the fight that was rapidly developing.<p>

She watched and waited, ready.

Sure enough, it was only a moment before she caught the first hint of light on the roof.

Dawnstar didn't waste a second. She flung her wings wide and pushed hard against the air.

Below her, Quanto jumped into the air, speeding towards her as fast as light.

Of course, she could be faster than light. But she wasn't going to do that, not yet.

She kept a careful eye on her opponent, mentally projecting his trajectory and slipping sideways just a little bit to keep away from him.

Better to let him wear himself out, trying to change direction suddenly. Light wasn't meant to move like that, but this was a _superpower._ You got to bend the rules a little.

But not_ too_ much.

* * *

><p>Marla Latham stood in the shelter of a store entrance, looking over the unconscious Lightning Lad. Cosmic Boy stood at the foot of the few steps leading to the doorway, guarding them both.<p>

"It doesn't look too bad," Marla said, trying not to sound nervous. "But it's hard to really tell."

"Well," Cos replied, flinging a thug across the street before he had the opportunity to attack. "If we're going to keep doing this, we'll all have to get used to getting hurt. And if he keeps acting like that, he'll have to learn to deal with spending battles unconscious."

"I can't say I like seeing you kids fighting like this."

"People fight every day all over the galaxy, Mr. Latham. We're trying to make it so that there's less of that. If it means that we have to fight more than most people, we'll do it."

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl approached Mystelor cautiously.<p>

"Treading carefully, girl?" the telepath asked. "Smart move."

"Could be," Lu replied.

Mystelor chuckled.

"You know what I do?"

"Of course," the Legionnaire replied. "But I also know that you're not very powerful. Tell me-"

She split into three, and spread out slightly.

"Can you fight three people at once?"

A bit of the smugness faded from the villainess's expression.

"You're all still _you,_" she said. "Whatever I do to one will affect the rest."

"Maybe," Triplicate Girl conceded, watching the space behind her opponent carefully. "But I find that I'm really pretty different from myself."

"You're inexperienced," Mystelor said, finding a point where she could be absolutely sure of herself again.

"I'm not," Troy said from behind her.

She spun, and he screamed in her face.

* * *

><p>Element Lad hung around the sidelines of the various smaller fights going on and waited for the one he was looking for.<p>

"Silly boy," someone said from behind him. There are some people whose character comes out in their voice- this voice was low and slimy and insidious and hinted of petty malice. "Waiting for someone to come to him. Not going to someone. Cowering on the sidelines, not attacking."

"You must be equally as silly, then," Jan said, gathering his power. "For going after someone who's had the opportunity to observe and plan and _think._"

He turned and confronted Shagrek, hands raised and ready for the attack his opponent leveled.

He transmuted the destructive energy beam into helium gas and reached mentally for the naturally-exuded layer of slime that coated the small being's body.

A little mental twist, and it solidified into a coat of salt.

Shagrek gasped and collapsed, wheezing and whimpering.

Jan walked over, counting to ten. He reached the orange alien, pulled his hands behind his back, and changed the salt into water.

Shagrek gasped again, this time with relief as the water soaked into his skin.

Element Lad reappeared in front of him and he lunged forward and fell flat on his face. He tried to pull himself up, but his hands were stuck.

"What-"

The Legionnaire knelt down to look at him.

"I improvised. That's a titanium sheath trapping your hands. It was atmosphere a few seconds ago. Don't bother trying to slip out; it's perfectly conformed to your hands and wrists."

* * *

><p>Mace swung his weapon lazily. His eyes flicked back and forth between Saturn Girl on one side and Colossal Boy on the other.<p>

Suddenly he moved, lunging for Saturn Girl.

She stepped aside quickly and brought her knee up to connect with his diaphragm. It hit solidly, but Mace recovered quickly and rolled over the blow, tumbling back to his feet and taking a swing at her.

It missed, an amazingly unlikely occurrence.

In fact, Saturn Girl was an inch or two behind where Mace thought she was. It was a delicate, if not particularly hard, mental trick- and it was amazingly effective.

Colossal Boy reached forward and grabbed Mace from behind, pulling his arms up and back the way he'd been taught at the Science Police Academy.

Mace brought a foot up and kicked off the Legionnaire's chest, flipping mid-air so that his arms were in front of him. Colossal Boy had been pushed back by the kick, and it was the work of a moment for him to yank his arms free and punch him across the face.

Gim stumbled back and Mace pivoted, fully ready to attack Saturn Girl again.

She stood there, defiant. There was a flash of pink and Mace's head jerked to the side, thoughts scrambling to get back into place.

Colossal Boy recovered just in time to return the punch. He drew his fist back again, glanced at Saturn Girl, who nodded once, and hit him again.

Mace went down under the combined physical and mental effects of the attack.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy and Dream Girl stood back-to-back, hired muscle surrounding them.<p>

They attacked simultaneously, Dream Girl foreseeing Sun Boy's move forward and mirroring it.

Dream Girl took care of the nearest grunts quickly and spared a glance to look at Sun Boy's progress.

The fool had tried to punch one of the thugs and was now struggling to get free.

Nura rolled her eyes.

"_Honestly,_" she murmured to herself, then raised her voice again.

"Dirk! Flame him!"

Sun Boy stopped struggling for a moment, then gathered himself together and shot a gout of flame at his captor.

He yelled and dropped the Legionnaire, trying to put out his burning clothes.

"What were you _thinking?_" Dream Girl demanded, moving to cover him while he got up.

"_You_ went straight for them, too-"

"I'm a _pre-cog_, Sun Boy!_ I_ know what they're going to do before _they_ do! _You_ don't! Don't rush them, just stand in one place and keep throwing fireballs!"

He grumbled, but took her advice.

She ducked under the first fiery sphere and lunged for the nearest foe.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl circled around Rogarth warily, constantly on edge.<p>

He grabbed for her and she phased partially into the next dimension, becoming slightly translucent.

His momentum took him through her intangible body and she took the opportunity to hit him in the back of the head as he went by.

Rogarth growled, panting for breath. They had been doing this same routine for the duration of the battle, now, and it was starting to wear him out.

He leaned over and put his hands on his knees, using the opportunity to think.

_One girl, who can make herself untouchable…_

How to get around that?

Rogarth watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye as she started to get closer. He kept taking deep breaths as if he was still tired, waiting for her to get within reach.

Finally, she got too close.

Rogarth exploded from his position and grabbed her around her shoulders.

Tinya threw him, the force required to do so making her overbalance and fall to her hands and knees.

She took a few deep gasping breaths of her own to try and steady her nerves. When her mother had been elected President, she had to be forced to take the few self-defense lessons the Presidential Guard insisted she go to, for her own safety.

Tinya remembered laughing when her instructor had brought up the possibility of her being grabbed by anyone.

She forced herself back to her feet to find Colossal Boy, grown to a height of about ten feet, holding her opponent to the ground in a headlock.

"You haven't practiced that much, have you?" he asked.

"I'm going to start."

* * *

><p>Dawnstar dodged Quanto once more and wondered if Saturn Girl could hear her.<p>

_:Of course I can hear you,:_ she answered, and then Dawnstar felt her jump guilty and start to leave.

_No! Don't go! Can you get Cosmic Boy and Element Lad?_

* * *

><p>Quanto turned and headed on another collision course for the winged girl, but instead of dodging, she started flying away, banking and flitting across the sky.<p>

_Oho! Trying to shake me, then?_

He shot after her, following her down into a steep dive towards her friends.

Element Lad ducked as Dawnstar shot over him and up towards the open sky, then snapped his arms out and transmuted the air.

Quanto, following on her heels, suddenly found himself bouncing around inside a large crystal.

Jan scrambled out of the way as a large sheet of scrap metal flew through the air and wrapped around the violently glittering gem; propelled from its scrap pile by Cosmic Boy.

Flames engulfed it, partially melting the metal and making it run, filling in any cracks in the crumpled outer casing.

Sun Boy stopped flaring and Dawnstar shot back past the Legionnaires, sucking the air past her and cooling the metal just in time for Triplicate Girl, bodies separated, to catch it before it hit the ground.

* * *

><p>At Marla Latham's feet, Lightning Lad groaned, clutched his head, and sat up, staring blearily past the older man and down the street.<p>

"Oh, _there_ they are," he said faintly, spotting the approaching Science Police. "I was wondering when they were going to show."

He flopped back down onto the ground and tried to focus on something other than the ringing in his head.

* * *

><p><em>:<em>I_ think we should.:_

The Legionnaires stood off to one side of the small square the Taurus Gang's hideout had faced, watching the Science Police take the various criminals custody. They in turn were watched by the congregated locals.

_Fine, _Cos sighed._ If you_ really_ want too._

_He's _not _going to say yes, _Garth told her firmly._ Not with the way he's been acting._

Saturn Girl ignored her co-Founders and approached Troy Stewart, who was standing a bit apart from everyone else.

"Are you just going to wait around for the next gang?" she asked him.

He looked at her.

"What else is there to do?"

She smiled. A perfect opening.

"You could come with us. Be a Legionnaire."

His head jerked up. "And _abandon_ Marzal?"

She shook her head. "Not abandon. All anyone would have to do is call and we'd come right back here and take care of the problem. But you could travel the galaxy in the meantime, and take the fight to the people who'd live off others. You could catch them before they took advantage of anyone else. Before they did any harm."

Troy's jaw set and Imra stood patiently, listening to him think.

"You haven't done any of that."

"We're just getting started, Troy. We need a little time for people to give us a chance. We'd have a better chance, though, if we had some experience. We're a little covered, there. Colossal Boy and I both have Science Police training, and I think Triplicate Girl has some experience as well. But you have already been doing the sort of thing we're trying to accomplish. We could use your expertise. We'd be able to do more good that way."

Troy bit his lip and thought some more.

Saturn Girl sensed an opening.

"You're doing a good job here, and I'm sure that if you stay you'll keep doing a good job. But you could come with us, give us a chance, and maybe do a good job making a difference to people all over- you could become an inspiration."

He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated a moment.

"People here-"

"They've seen you in action. They've seen how they can take power for themselves. Now come show everyone else."

"You still haven't got anything to back this up."

"We just defeated the Taurus Gang, didn't we?"

He was silent again.

"Someday, Troy. _Someday._"

'The Scream of the Devil' sighed and looked up at the sky.

"I'll have to tell my Dad. And Grandfather Kione."

Imra smiled widely and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Go ahead. We'll wait for you."

* * *

><p><em>Excerpt from the Daily Galaxy, the next day:<em>

_Yesterday the Legion of Superheroes traveled to Marzal to combat the Taurus Gang, who had been terrorizing the capitol there for the past six months. After an initial defeat, the Legion joined forces with a local Marzali vigilante known to the citizens in the area as "The Scream of the Devil". Together they defeated the gang and turned over the five ringleaders and many of their hired thugs to the only Science Police station on the planet. Locals say that the Legion then recruited "The Scream of the Devil" to be a part of their team; working with them under the name 'Tyroc', the Marzali word for his title. _


	6. Calling All Heroes

**Chapter 5**

"**Calling All Heroes"**

* * *

><p>It was a dark night.<p>

The man slipped into the museum, ducking the sign that read "Closed for Renovations".

He didn't bother to slide along the walls, but walked confidently down their centers, ambling from side to side occasionally to look at some of the displays.

After about ten minutes he stopped in front of one of the glass cases and knelt down, taking a small cloth bundle out of his pocket and unrolling it.

Picking up two of his tools, he started his careful work on the lock.

* * *

><p>Dirk curled up under his sheets and nursed the small flaming sphere cupped between his hands.<p>

It was too dark outside._ Much_ too dark.

That was what he'd liked about city, when he and his father had first moved here. It never got _truly_ dark- even on rainy, moonless nights the glare of the various illuminates signs and windows reflected off the buildings, keeping everything at a sort of grayish tone.

But the nearby buildings were all dark tonight, and their bulk blocked whatever illumination might have leaked from the rest of the city.

He bit back a sob and held his light closer.

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad knocked on the door again, gave into his impatience, and slammed the door open.<p>

"You'd better not be getting dressed; 'cause I've Triplicate Girl with me!" he yelled belatedly.

Triplicate Girl pushed past him.

"Look, he hasn't even gotten up yet."

She stalked to the bed and pulled the sheets off, reaching for the boy underneath to shake him awake.

"Come_ on_, Sun Boy! Everyone else has had breakfast already_yyeoooow!_"

Lightning Lad shoved Dirk's shoulder, then looked concerned.

"D'you think he's sick? He feels kinda hot."

"_Hot!_" Triplicate Girl exclaimed incredulously, staring at Garth's hand. "He's burning!"

"I don't think he's that bad-"

"No! I mean he's _burning!_"

She thrust her hand forward. "Look!"

He looked down at her bright red hand and pulled a face.

"That looks bad. You should run it under some water or something."

"How come you're not screaming?" she complained.

He shrugged. "Lightning's hotter than fire, right?"

Triplicate Girl hunted for the bathroom door while Lightning Lad bent down to put his mouth near Sun Boy's ear.

"_IF YOU DON'T GET UP _RIGHT NOW_ I'M GOING TO _ELECTROCUTE _YOU!_" he screamed; a confident veteran of the small wars of siblinghood.

Dirk woke with a start and immediately tried to sit up, banging the side of his head against Garth's nose.

Garth clutched his face and yelled angrily into his hands.

"_Hah!_" Triplicate Girl called over the sound of running water.

Dirk pulled himself upright and sat, hand clapped over his ear.

"What was_ that _for?" he asked irritably.

"Evvyv elv viv alvevy avay!"

"What?"

"You're the last one up, Sun Boy!" Trips called.

She emerged from the bathroom.

"_And_ you burned my hand!"

"I'm working on that, okay? Now get out so I can get dressed!"

* * *

><p>An hour later, the Legion stood assembled outside the New Metropolis Museum of Heroes and Legends; a subsection of Earth-Space Relations Museum of New Metropolis.<p>

"Are we taking a field trip or something?" Triplicate Girl asked, looking at Marla Latham.

He shook his head.

"We _were_ called," Cos said. "But it _seems_ as though we've been stood up."

He thought of Marzal.

"_Again._"

* * *

><p>"<em>Psst!<em>"

Tyroc turned and saw a young man, long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, attempting to be surreptitious beneath a stand supporting a large sign that said "Closed for Renovations".

"Yes?" he asked doubtfully.

"I'm the one who called you!"

Triplicate Girl bent down to investigate.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" the man said, wriggling out from beneath the sign.

"And- who are you?" Lightning Lad asked.

The man, tall and lanky, spent a moment sorting himself out.

"Olithre Quean," he told them distractedly, picking twigs out of his hair. "Tour guide. Well, I'm trying to get promoted because being a tour guide doesn't pay that well and I've been talking about the same displays for like three years now to help pay for college-"

"Why did you call us?" Saturn Girl interrupted.

Olithre looked hunted.

"My manager said he'd give me a chance and I'm supposed to be overseeing the displays while the museum gets patched up but I got in early this morning to open up for the workers and there was a display missing and it's going to totally ruin my chances of promotion if my manager finds out-"

"Theft is something for the Science Police," Cosmic Boy told him. "Why didn't you call them?"

Olithre looked at him incredulously. "They'd have to tell my manager I'd lost it!"

Behind him, Tinya rolled her eyes.

"And it was a superhero thing that got taken."

Colossal Boy sighed.

* * *

><p>The Legion filled along the back hallways of the museum, Olithre carefully guiding them so as to avoid any workers. He ushered them nervously through the double doors of a large room and locked them again quickly.<p>

Dawnstar looked around at the display cases. There were quite a few of them, in all sizes and shapes.

Saturn Girl leaned forward a bit; hands clasped behind her back, to take a closer look at one- a few metal spheres, each sporting a red 'T', suspended from the top of a long glass tube.

"What's a Motherbox?" Triplicate Girl asked, peering at a different display a few rows over.

"Cool!" Lightning Lad exclaimed from somewhere behind her. "You've got Lantern rings!"

"They're all dead now," Olithre told him. "Haven't so much as glowed in centuries. Over here, Legionnaires."

They clustered around a startlingly empty display case.

Cosmic Boy read the label.

"The H Dial."

* * *

><p>Nylor Truggs leaned back against a hidden corner of a retaining wall of the apartment building roof and examined his prize.<p>

It was a disk of metal about the right size to fit into a human's palm, maybe five centimeters deep.

He turned it over in his hands and discovered he'd been looking at the backside.

The front sported an opaque, faintly glowing circle of plastic-like substance, set into the disk itself.

Nylor turned the disk again and found an abstract pattern of raised metal adorning the edge.

He squinted. It was hard to tell in this light, but it looked like there was a hair-thin crack running all the way around.

He grabbed the edge and tried turning it.

The bottom ring moved and the patterns lined up.

'HERO'

Nylor frowned, then snorted in derision. Why was this thing in a museum if the inscription was in modern Interlac? Someone somewhere had been royally duped.

The disk started to make a low humming noise.

He flipped it back upright, alarmed.

The inner disk glowed a yellowish-white and an Interlac 'H', written in red, popped up for a second; then faded along with the humming. Only the yellowish-white glow remained.

Nylor nearly dropped it in a sudden attack of nerves.

That was strange- but it was a fake, wasn't it? Things didn't turn up with modern writing in history museums unless they were.

He checked the time, stood, and put the disk back in his bag. He ducked around the box that had been concealing his position and nearly collided with one of the actual tenets of the apartment building.

Tried to duck past the other man and –in what could only be a working of fate- tripped, stumbled sideways, and fell over the retaining wall.

* * *

><p>"The H Dial was said to grant a random superpower to anyone who operated it for an hour," Olithre explained in the slightly distant tone of someone who had said this too many times before.<p>

"_Said?_" Marla Latham asked.

"No one's ever seen any of these artifacts in action," the tour guide explained. "We can only be certain of the authenticity of some of the more uncounterfeitable items, like the Lantern rings you saw before."

"If you're not sure if they're the real thing why are they even on display?" Dream Girl demanded.

"Learning experience, I suppose."

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy examined the case.<p>

"It doesn't look broken or damaged," he said eventually. "Did someone pick the lock?"

Olithre fidgeted, embarrassed.

"That's the thing- they're supposed to be unpickable. That's what the McCauley Corporation representative said when he sold them to the museum, anyway."

Cosmic Boy wondered for a moment about the scowl Triplicate Girl and Marla Latham exchanged, then turned to Dawnstar.

"Can you-"

"I am already working on it."

Sun Boy rubbed his eyes and tried not to yawn.

"Do we really all need to be here for this?" he asked.

Lightning Lad shrugged.

"Yeah, what about that?"

Cos made an executive decision.

"Tyroc, Dream Girl, you stay with Dawnstar. The rest of us will head back to HQ."

* * *

><p>Nylor Truggs laughed quietly to himself and looked down on the city, spread out below him.<p>

Well, maybe it wasn't such a fake, after all!

He spun in the air, feeling giddy, and heard a faint chiming.

He frowned and dug in his bag, now hanging below him. He pulled out the stolen disk.

A red 'E' faded out of view as he looked at it.

Nylor stopped himself and considered this. Why have more than one flashing letter?

Then he remembered- 'HERO'.

So maybe it was- a countdown?

He checked the time. It had been about fifteen minutes since he'd fallen off the building, only to find himself _rising_.

Well, okay. Four letters, and four fifteen minutes segments in an hour.

So he only had an hour, did he?

Better make good use of it.

* * *

><p>Dawnstar closed her eyes as Marla Latham and the majority of the Legion filed out of the room, once again led by Olithre Quean.<p>

The room unfolded in her head. Ribbons of colored light shot off in all directions, criss-crossing across the floor. The colors blended where the sheets met, making a small point of muddled brightness. Dark spots were the displays, and the differently toned washes behind everything were the floor, walls, and ceiling.

She turned slowly on her heels. Some of the light trails were fainter- older paths. The Legion's trails were brighter and predictably muddled, uneven on the tops and sides where they had bent over to look at things.

A dark purple light came through the doors and eventually reached the empty display case. It widened and shortened in front of the lock, brightly lit in her mind. Then the trail doubled back on itself, diverging only slightly, and exited back out through the doors.

Dawnstar opened her eyes and held that dark purple light in the front of her mind.

"This way."

* * *

><p>"Did you have a hard time sleeping last night, or something?" Colossal Boy asked Sun Boy when they reached Legion HQ.<p>

"None of your business," he muttered.

"It's just that you seem really tired."

Sun Boy ignored him and walked out of the room. Saturn Girl followed him.

"Was it nightmares?"

She felt him flinch away from the idea in his head.

"If you're having nightmares so bad they keep you up at night you should talk to someone," she told him.

"I don't need to talk to anyone!"

"Your thoughts say otherwise."

"Stop messing around in my head!"

* * *

><p>Tyroc and Dream Girl walked together along the city street, trying not to attract attention. Dream Girl was doing a better job at ignoring the stares. The only reason Tyroc hadn't noticed was because he was staring upwards, attention focused on the sky.<p>

"How's Dawnstar doing?" she asked- out of courtesy, not because she didn't know.

He crossed in front of her and headed into an alley.

"Down here."

* * *

><p>There was another chiming and Nylor Truggs found himself losing altitude. He maneuvered himself carefully and managed to land on the roof of another apartment building.<p>

He pulled the Dial out.

There was no red letter, as there had been before, when the 'R' and 'O' had appeared. Now the yellowish-white light faded out.

There was a series of faint clickings as the rings on the side turned of their own accord.

Nylor smiled to himself and grabbed them.

The smile quickly faded.

They wouldn't move!

He growled angrily, dropped his bag –fuller than it had been an hour before- and sat down, trying to turn the Dial again.

* * *

><p>"It figures that McCauley sold those locks," Triplicate Girl said.<p>

"Why?" Lightning Lad asked.

She glanced over at Marla Latham and Element Lad, deep in conversation about something or other. "It just does, okay?"

He didn't look particularly happy about with this answer but changed the subject.

"D'you believe Sun Boy?"

"About what?" she asked, confused.

"Well, when we woke him up this morning he sounded like he wasn't really under control of the whole burning up thing. Do you think he was doing that on purpose or is it something that just happens?"

"He was _sleeping_. How could he do that on purpose?"

"Maybe he was faking."

"I think we'd have noticed that."

"Okay, well, if he really _was_ out of it, should we be worried about him flaming up on accident?"

* * *

><p>Dawnstar reached an apartment building and pulled up, hovering.<p>

The trail went _up_, out into thin air, and then angled out over the city far above her head.

"What is it, Dawnstar?"

Tyroc's voice was faint from this high up when he wasn't using his powers.

She pulled herself into a shallow dive and wheeled in the air on her way down to hover a few feet above her teammates' heads.

"It looks like the thief discovered what the H Dial does," she told them.

"How can you tell?" he asked.

"The trail goes up."

"Up?"

"He flew away."

"Can you still follow him?"

Dawnstar looked at the sky.

"Yes, but it's going to be hard."

"Why, does the trail not stick as well in the air?" Dream Girl asked.

"No, the trail is just as clear as before. But now I'm all the way down here, near the ground. It's going to take a lot of work to get back up there."

"But you have wings," Tyroc said, confused.

She sighed.

"Yes, but I don't have much altitude. I would land and take up again, but I would need a running start to do that; and there's not enough room."

* * *

><p>The rings finally clicked back into position and the glow returned.<p>

Nylor smiled.

* * *

><p>Dawnstar reached the apex of the trail in fits and starts, slowing gaining height.<p>

If only she didn't have to stay at a human pace! She could have found the thief already.

But now she really couldn't ditch her teammates. The thief had superpowers now.

_And you never know,_ she thought. _He could have some native abilities as well._

Eventually she found herself passing through the high-rent district, soaring past the windows of the well-to-do.

"I don't _care_ what you think!" someone shrieked, the sound carried through an open window. "The only way to get in here was through _that_ win-"

Dawnstar caught a fleeting glimpse of shocked faces as she sped past.

"See!" she heard behind her. "_Flying!_ Just like I said!"

Oh dear. She was following an_ intrepid _thief.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy growled to himself and slammed another door.<p>

Saturn Girl was_ following_ him!

* * *

><p>A certainty materialized in Dream Girl's mind.<p>

She stopped walking, grabbed Tyroc, and braced herself.

It did little good. They, along with the rest of the street, were knocked off their feet by the massive backwash of air made by the speeding figure careening down the middle of the road.

She helped Tyroc to his feet.

Up above, Dawnstar disappeared from sight, shooting off at high speed after the thief.

Dream Girl looked at the devastated street.

_Saturn Girl?_ she thought. _We could use some help out here._

* * *

><p>Sun Boy felt someone else in his mind.<p>

_Get out of my head!_ he screamed silently.

Saturn Girl ignored him.

_:Dream Girl just asked for some assistance,:_ she told the Legionnaires. _:Anyone want to go?:_

_Would it kill you to just walk in here and _ask_?_ Lightning Lad grumbled.

Dirk saw an opportunity.

_I'll go!_ he said quickly, pushing the door open and running past a startled Saturn Girl.

Anything to get away from all these questions.

_:Wait, Dirk! I haven't said where they are yet!:_

* * *

><p>Dawnstar chased her quarry.<p>

They were far, far outside the city now, and had actually passed straight over an ocean and a continent. The thief knew he was being followed, and was trying his hardest to shake her.

He swerved and doubled back, but the Legionnaire kept on his trail.

She took a chance and dove for the man, ground rushing up at an impossible speed.

She saw him look over his shoulder and see her coming.

He dropped back at the last second and Dawnstar shot over him.

She felt her boots skim water and she fought for altitude before she could be knocked entirely off-balance and slam into the ground. That would not be an experience she could walk away from.

One muscle-wrenching push brought her up near the clouds and she noticed with concern the dragging feeling in her wings.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy reached Tyroc and Dream Girl just in time to see Dawnstar stagger out of the sky.<p>

"Why did you stop?" he demanded, coming closer.

Dawnstar leaned heavily on Tyroc, who helped her sit down on the ground. She hunched in on herself, arms around her stomach, knees drawn up to her shoulders. Her wings were half-unfolded behind her, taking up a good stretch of walkway.

"Flying is a high-energy activity," she said, tone harsher than usual from exhaustion. "I've been flying all morning, and now I _cannot _go anywhere until I have some food."

Her stomach growled thunderously.

"_Lots_ of food."

* * *

><p>An hour or so later all of the Legionnaires had finished having some lunch. Dawnstar had managed to accumulate quite a pile of assorted packaging from the food they'd purchased from the street vendors who had set up for the tourists' convenience.<p>

Tyroc bundled all the garbage together and looked for someplace to throw it away. Sun Boy solved his problem by incinerating it.

Tyroc glared at him.

"You could have _warned_ me before you shot fire at my hands," he said reproachfully.

"Did you get burned?"

"No-"

"Then it's all the same, isn't it."

Tyroc ignored him and looked at Dawnstar.

"Are you up to tracking the thief now?" he asked.

Dawnstar stood carefully, testing her legs. She straightened up and flexed her wings, making a small backdraft.

"I should think so."

"There's no need," Dream Girl said. "I saw him-"

"And you didn't point him out?" Sun Boy asked hotly.

"In a _vision,_ Dirk. He's still in the city."

Dawnstar looked puzzled. "Why would he still be in the city? _We_ are the ones looking for him, and we are _here._"

"He's a criminal," Tyroc said. "Criminals are _stupid._ If they were smart they wouldn't _be _criminals."

"Then why does it seem as though there were criminal masterminds behind everything in the old days?"

"Maybe they_ were_ super-geniuses; but they were_ fundamentally_ stupid. They were criminals because they'd gotten a ridiculous idea and were stupid enough to _believe_ it."

"But if they were that smart, shouldn't they have noticed?"

"It was human nature at work, Dawnstar," Dream Girl interrupted gently, coming up between her and Tyroc. "At least it was on _this_ planet. And as interesting as it would be to keep talking about this, we've got a thief to catch."

* * *

><p>Nylor Truggs checked the time and drew the H Dial out again.<p>

There was a rustle from behind him.

"Get him before he uses that thing again!"

Nylor jumped aside as a brown-skinned boy lunged for him. He got his back up against a wall and rotated the patterns to read 'HERO'.

There was the humming, the glow, and the flashed letter.

He dropped the metal disk and his bag, now full from the crime he'd worked in the past few hours.

_Whatever I can do now, work!_

His hands rose, on orders from whatever part of him knew what to do next.

Darkness flowed from them, washing up against the walls of the surrounding buildings.

* * *

><p>Dawnstar immediately ran down the nearest alley, shadows licking at her wingtips before she cleared their reach.<p>

She gained enough momentum to lift off just as she hit the main street and then circled back, trying to pick out the trail of light she had become familiar with this day within the heavy darkness.

* * *

><p>Tyroc slowed a bit and tried to continue walking in a straight line. The thief had been right in his trajectory before the darkness had descended.<p>

But what if he'd moved?

He stopped walking and closed his eyes. Humming to himself, he thought about what he'd seen in the area.

Then he screamed softly and listened to the echoes.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy froze. Fire flared up all across his body in response to his fear.<p>

It did little to light up the darkness. He could barely see farther than before, and now what little night vision he'd had was completely gone. Not that he had been able to see much.

He knew it would probably be a better idea to put out the flames, but he couldn't stand to be without the light.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl sighed and waited to see if a revelation would occur.<p>

After a minute or so of waiting one seemed unforthcoming, so she closed her eyes and tried to envision the future.

* * *

><p>Nylor Truggs stood stock-still and wondered if it was worth dispelling the darkness so he could see where the children who'd been following him were.<p>

He decided after a moment's consideration that it wouldn't be worth letting any of them see him. That girl with the wings was too fast.

He picked a direction and started off, hoping to eventually clear the unnatural night.

* * *

><p>A face loomed in Sun Boy's vision.<p>

He yelped and the fire flared brighter for a moment.

The man –the thief, he saw now- yelled and threw up his arms up to protect his eyes and stumbled away.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl whirled, hearing the scream. A vision intruded for a moment, and she saw where the thief was going to come from.<p>

She chopped at him with her hand as he staggered past her. He turned and ran.

"Tyroc, he's headed towards you!"

* * *

><p>Tyroc whistled a few notes, noted the slight inconsistencies, and pulled his fist back.<p>

His swing caught the thief square in the face.

He fell backwards and the darkness started to dissipate.

* * *

><p>The Legionnaires blinked in the too-bright sunlight and Nylor took advantage of the situation to scramble to his feet and head down a side street.<p>

Dawnstar swooped down and caught him under the arms, carrying him off into the sky.

Dream Girl picked up his bag and looked around for the H Dial.

"Found it!" Sun Boy said. He was a little shaken still, but he could see the sun. All was right with the world.

Tyroc squinted up at the sky.

"Come down, Dawnstar! We have some things to return!"


	7. Roadblock

**Chapter 6**

"**Roadblock"**

* * *

><p>"Hey Trips?"<p>

Triplicate Girl turned over on the couch and checked the time blearily.

"Garth- it's_ three_ in the morning! Why are you _up?_"

She heard the shifting cloth of uniform against the chair he'd collapsed in hours before in the faint greyish light.

"Well, _you're_ up, too."

"Just because you said something! What did you want?"

"You remember when the Space Museum got robbed? And then we came back to HQ and you said it figured that the McCauley Corporation sold them those locks?"

She groaned.

"_How_ can you remember that at _three _in the morning _two months later?_"

"Why'd you say that?"

"It doesn't matter!"

Lightning Lad plowed onwards.

"And you looked at Element Lad and Mr. Marla when you said it, like you were checking to see if they'd heard or something."

"Just drop it and let me go back to sleep!"

There was a crackle and his face lit up in the amber glow of the electricity arcing between his fingers.

"Uh-uh. Tell me."

"No."

He smiled. It was a frightening thing to see- the lighting made him look like a horror-movie murderer.

"_C'mon…_"

"McCauley's a cheapskate scum-sucking bottom-feeding _dirtbag_ who couldn't tell a whale from his own backside and wouldn't recognize common decency even if it punched him in the nose; okay? Now go to sleep!"

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy yawned and swirled his coffee, staring at the clouds the creamer made on the surface.<p>

A weight fell across his shoulders.

"Hey there."

It took a minute for his brain to register what had happened, and by that time Dream Girl had already leaned over to look at his drink.

"Didn't sleep much last night?" she asked.

"Got up too early," he mumbled. "Lightning Lad and Triplicate Girl were making noise."

"It's not _my_ fault," Triplicate Girl protested from the kitchen. "_He_ was the one who woke me up in the middle of the night!"

Dream Girl looked at Lightning Lad.

"You look amazingly awake for someone who did that."

He scowled at her and stood up, clearing his breakfast plate away.

"What's with you and him, anyway?" Colossal Boy asked.

"Never you mind," Nura told him. She patted his shoulder. "Just finish your coffee. We're going to be busy today."

* * *

><p>"You know," Gim said a couple hours later. "I don't <em>feel<em> all that busy."

Cosmic Boy looked around the bustling interior of Klein Spaceport's atrium. Off to the right was the highly regimented chaos of people getting themselves and their baggage sorted out as they arrived. Far over to the left was a purposeful drain out of the complex as people picked up their luggage and caught taxis or shuttles out into the city.

He shifted his weight and tried to get comfortable in his civilian clothes. Surely there was something wrong when you felt out of place not wearing a uniform?

"Just wander casually over towards the luggage pick-up, like you're there to meet somebody but you've got plenty of time," Dream Girl told him, rummaging in the bag she'd brought as a prop. "Watch for a group of kids, a little older than us, four, five people large. When they start walking away, follow them-discreetly."

"How are we supposed to know when we've found them?" Colossal Boy asked.

"You'll know. Now get going- there's somewhere else I need to be."

Cos reached over and grabbed her arm before she could leave.

"I thought _I_ was leader around here."

"And _you're_ the one who told everyone else to listen to me."

* * *

><p>"Where'd Cos go?" Lightning Lad asked.<p>

"He and Colossal Boy went with Dream Girl down to the spaceport," Saturn Girl told him.

"What, they have something_ better _to do?"

"Apparently."

Garth looked out the window of the car down at the city below, still a little sleepy. Streets flew by and the forms of the people on the walkways blurred together.

"Are technology symposiums interesting?" Element Lad asked, looking at Marla Latham.

"Oh, the talks are usually pretty stuffy," Marla said good-naturedly. "But the demonstrations are excellent. They have to be- not just everyone gets invited to display their new products there."

"It'll be nice to see Mr. Brande again," Triplicate Girl said. She was more awake now, and propelled by excitement. "I mean, it's been half a year now."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, too."

They landed a few moments later in the large space cordoned off for the New Metropolis Technology Symposium parking. The taxi dropped them off and sped away as Marla Latham led the Legionnaires, all out of uniform, into the building.

The technology symposium had colonized one of the Metropolis University buildings. It was huge inside, ceiling towering high above and the walls far apart, stretching away as far as any of them could see. Large booths dominated the floorspace in long rows.

Marla Latham beckoned them down one aisle. They passed lots of stalls and eventually emerged in front of a large area with a banner reading 'Brande Industries' suspended over the tables set up, filled with prototypes and demonstration pieces.

"_There_ you are, Marla!" a man boomed. An arm descended around his shoulders, making him stagger a little.

"Hi, Mr. Brande!" Triplicate Girl said happily.

"And how are my kids doing?" he asked enthusiastically, holding his arms out wide.

Trips hugged him tightly.

"We're doing just fine, Mr. Brande," Saturn Girl told him, smiling.

* * *

><p>Rokk lounged against a wall and stared up at the ceiling, bored.<p>

"Hey," Gim said, jerking his head towards the luggage pick-up. "Think that's them?"

Rokk tried to look at the luggage pick-up while not looking like he was looking at the luggage pick-up.

A very tall girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, stood with her legs partially spread, hands on her hips. She glared around at everything, as if daring anyone to come close. A shorter girl, maybe the same age, stood close to her; the light glinting off her metallic silver hair and skin. A shortish boy with blonde hair watched the conveyor belt that was bringing the luggage in, accompanied by another boy, a little taller, with dark hair. A third boy, tall, with long brown hair, lurked.

Rokk leaned over towards Gim a bit.

"Well, Nura _did_ say we'd know them when we saw them."

* * *

><p>The Legion's financier looked down at the girl in his arms.<p>

"And what about you, Lu?"

Triplicate Girl pulled back a bit.

"Oh, it's been great, Mr. Brande! Even if people don't exactly like us much right now. How are you managing without me?"

"Oh, just fine," Brande told her, eyes twinkling. "Pheebes here- PHEEBES!"

A green alien, a bit like an eel with four arms and a humanoid face, turned from his discussion with someone and slithered over.

"Yes, sir?"

"Oh, _Pheebes!_" Lu said in dismay. "I thought you were taking time off! Did we interrupt it by leaving?"

"Not at all, Ms. Durgo," he said reassuringly. "I've gotten so used to working for Mr. Brande after all these years that I simply _couldn't_ stay away any longer."

"But you're doing all _my_ work _and_ all of Mr. Latham's work now!"

Element Lad looked around.

"Are your boys here, Mr. Brande?"

Triplicate Girl looked up at him. "Yeah, are they?"

Mr. Brande chuckled a bit.

"No- neither of them were interested."

She thought about this.

"Well, okay, I can _maybe_ see that- but_ both_ of them? I'd've thought that-"

"Enjoying life with your pet project, Brande?"

The voice contained only the slightest hint of slime.

Everyone turned to look at the man- tall, lanky, long blonde hair pulled back in a tail, glasses perched halfway down his nose.

"Has anyone come to look at your demonstrations yet, McCauley?" Brande asked, not nearly as welcoming now. "Anything blown up yet?"

McCauley laughed. It actually sounded genuine until you looked at his face.

"Oh, you do like your jokes- don't you, René?"

"Not half as much as you enjoy making money, Leland."

* * *

><p>Gim looked up as they turned a corner, taking another look at the bulk of the Superman Museum that they had passed five minutes ago.<p>

"How can they still be going?" he asked Rokk. "They haven't even stopped to look at anything; and they've walked by some of the most popular tourist spots in the city!"

Rokk looked down the street to where the group was still walking along, about three blocks ahead. The trees of Shuster Park loomed in the distance.

"I think we should be more concerned about _where_ they're going."

* * *

><p>"Titania," the girl with silver hair said. "Door."<p>

The tall girl grumbled and pushed her way past the rest. She laid her hands against the door and tightened her fingers. The metal of the door crinkled and made a noise like tinfoil being balled up. It started to warp and pull out of its mooring.

Titania got her fingers embedded in the metal and pulled. The door came free with a screech. She tossed it off to the side, over the heads of her friends.

"Someone is going to notice that," she said, looking at the mangled metal lying in the grass. "There are other ways to do that sort of thing. You could have opened that door, Ki-Lun, or Yer could have gone through the cracks-"

"Yer's got his own job," Ki-Lun said, looking down the dark corridor. "Chey- go scout."

The blonde boy nodded and jumped into the air. He dissolved into light and sped down the deserted hallway. He lit up a junction, quite a ways down, where another hallway intersected the first one. Two security guards were there, and looked up in astonishment at the floating light.

Chey hovered for a minute, then shot off down the intersecting hallway. The guards ran off in pursuit.

"Go!" Ki-Lun said quietly, and they all ran off down the hall. Eventually they reached another door. The boy with black hair put his ear against it.

"There's people talking."

Ki-Lun looked at the tall boy. "Yer, go."

Yer stood very still for a moment, and then sublimated into gas. He seeped through the cracks.

They waited.

He returned a few moments later.

"It's the backstage of the auditorium- someone's going to give a speech."

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>The Legionnaires and Pheebes were settled into the front row of the auditorium seats; waiting for RJ Brande to begin talking.<p>

There was a glint of light up in the overhead of the stage. Garth squinted and leaned closer.

"You see that?" he asked Imra.

"See what?" Lu asked.

RJ Brande came out onto stage and adjusted the microphone.

Another light glinted in the wings. This time, Garth could see what it was.

"Them!" he said loudly, and stood, lightning already crackling around his hands and arms.

* * *

><p>Ki-Lun dodged to one side to avoid the woman who tried to grab her and kept running. A red-headed by jumped up from the front row and vaulted up onto the stage.<p>

She noticed the electricity sparking in the air around him.

Wi Kan Muur had been right. The Legion was here. How had he known?

She spotted him in the other wing, black hair hidden under a blue hat, disguised in a staff uniform. He nodded slightly at her.

Ki-Lun smiled and let her fingers extend into razor-sharp claws.

Ahead of her, the Legionnaire's lightning fizzled into nothingness.

* * *

><p>Garth stopped short, a little way past RJ Brande. He stared at his hands in confusion.<p>

Triplicate Girl and Element Lad were already onstage, Trips standing protectively in front of Brande.

A girl, seemingly made of metal, was streaking towards him. He stepped to the side to try and intercept her, but she ducked and brought her hand up. Razors slashed across his cheek and he felt blood run down the side of his face.

Triplicate Girl moved to stop her from reaching RJ Brande and the girl slashed at her, as well. She split quickly, white body separating from her joined orange and purple ones. The orange-purple body, which had ducked under the swipe, split and dove for her legs.

A bright flash lit up the backstage area. Lightning Lad spun quickly.

Element Lad stood there, hands upraised, as a bolt of light hurtled down from the overhead. The air over the boy solidified into a large silvery lens. The light hit the lens and was deflected, shooting out over the audience's heads.

They finally found time to panic.

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl stood in her chair next to Pheebes, ignoring the shoving crowd. She scanned the room with her eyes and her mind.<p>

On stage, the metallic girl fought free of Triplicate Girl's tackle and tumbled off onto the auditorium floor.

A very tall girl, thickly built, ducked in a side door and melted into the crowd. Saturn Girl followed her magenta dress and reddish-brown hair as she moved.

The Legionnaire frowned and opened her mind.

There was the panic of the Symposium attendees, completely confused and frightened at this sudden turn of events.

There were her teammates onstage, wary and defensive.

There were the attackers…

She jumped over the back of her chair and ran down the row behind hers until she reached the aisle.

"_Mr. McCauley! Look out!_"

* * *

><p>Dream Girl wandered along the landing bays for the cruiser at the spaceport, keeping close to the back wall of the main building.<p>

She ducked behind a stack of luggage and smiled brightly.

"Hello there. I'm Nura Nal. Would you mind coming with me?"

* * *

><p>McCauley had found himself haven atop a stack of empty crates next to the back wall.<p>

Suddenly he smelled something foul.

He wrinkled his nose and flapped his hand, trying to dissipate the odor. His eyes began to water.

The air wavered.

Leland McCauley thought he saw a face form in the haze- and then it winked.

"Remember _Dryad,_ Mr. McCauley?" a voice breathed. "Remember your _miners?_"

The face opened its mouth in a silent scream and swept towards him.

* * *

><p>Up on stage, the other Legionnaires turned to their teammates shout.<p>

"They're after Leland McCauley?" Triplicate Girl asked. "Really?"

Lightning Lad looked at her questioningly.

"What, you want to let them get him?"

She watched Element Lad jump off-stage and run towards Saturn Girl.

"As much as the guy could use a good pounding, we can't let it happen. C'mon."

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl reached gas cloud enveloping Leland McCauley just in time to see him fall off the crate he'd been standing on.<p>

There was a mind in there somewhere, she knew. Concentrate…

The mind of the man- no, the boy- who was trying to choke McCauley was hard to pin down. It was light, ethereal, fleeting-

But she found it.

She blasted the boy's mind. The cloud thrashed and descended a bit.

Then something hit Saturn Girl from behind.

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad tried frantically to make a spark, <em>any<em> spark- but nothing came.

He kept running for Imra all the same, outdistancing Triplicate Girl and passing Element Lad. Clearly, neither of them had been doing farm chores all their life.

And then a huge girl stepped out of the crowd and whacked her on the back of the head.

Garth didn't slow down one bit. Even if he couldn't shoot lightning, he still had his fists.

He cannoned into the large girl and knocked her back a few steps. Quickly, he fired off a series of punches to her gut.

She bent over slightly and backhanded him. Garth landed heavily on a row of auditorium seating.

He pulled himself up and ran at her again.

She stepped aside, grabbed his collar, lifted him off the ground, and threw him halfway across the room.

* * *

><p>"This is ridiculous," Gim muttered. "Get behind me, Cosmic Boy."<p>

He grew until he was taller than the doorways emptying people onto the Symposium display floor. Carefully, he pushed people out of the way, headed for the auditorium doors.

* * *

><p>Element Lad ducked instinctively to avoid his flying teammate, even though he was in no danger of being hit. He stopped and spun, but Triplicate Girl had already split and had caught Lightning Lad before he could hit the ground.<p>

He turned again quickly to see the girl almost on top of him. He flung up his hands and a solid steel barrier, six inches thick, materialized out of thin air, anchored to the floor.

The girl swung and her fist bent the barrier inward, metal stretched almost to its breaking point.

He jerked back and she tore the barrier from the floor and flung it off to the side.

Element Lad hurriedly threw up another shield.

This time she punched right through.

And the Triplicate Girl vaulted over the seats and hit her with a flying martial arts kick to the side. The girl fell to the ground and he changed the air around her hands to titanium and rooted the cuffs to the floor.

She got her feet under her and heaved herself upright; bringing a whole section of the floor with her.

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy pounded up behind the girl that was holding the floor over her head, growing another few inches with every step. He punched her between the shoulder blades and she arched back, the weight of the concrete and metal still attached to her hands pulling her downwards.<p>

She flipped herself over so she was leaning forward instead, and he took the opportunity to knock her feet out from under her. The girl fell face-first into the chunk of debris she was attached to, and stopped moving.

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl tried to get a grip of the mind of the boy who was currently living as a gas cloud, but was still having a hard time with it.<p>

She tried again.

It was exactly like trying to grab mist.

Something streaked by her and she felt the fabric of her uniform tear.

"Come on, Yer! Let's go!"

The mist seemed to waver for a moment, then began to flow away towards the doors.

Imra put a hand to her chest and felt blood. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone dash across the stage.

She whirled and reached for the person's mind.

Ah. Much easier.

The boy disguised in the staff uniform stumbled as he felt a foreign presence in his mind. She prodded gently and he fell over completely.

* * *

><p>"I don't get why they'd attack McCauley," Lightning Lad said later, as Pheebes drove them back to Legion HQ.<p>

He looked over at Saturn Girl. "Couldn't you have pried it out of them?"

"The girl was out cold," she said. "I can't hear people if they're not conscious."

"That guy you got wasn't."

Imra glared fiercely at him.

"What?" Triplicate Girl asked.

"Don't _ever_ think that again," she said. "_I don't do that._ _No_ real Titanian would do that."

"But the guy-"

"I _won't_ poke around in someone's head! I can't help but hear their surface thoughts, but I will _not _go looking through their thoughts or their memories just because-!"

Garth held up his hands.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you."

They touched down outside Legion Headquarters and started for the door, Imra staying pointedly away from Garth.

Dream Girl opened the door for them.

The wall behind her moved.

No- it wasn't the wall, Garth corrected himself quickly. Walls didn't bend over. And they didn't have heads, either.

Dream Girl stepped a little off to the side.

"This is Blok. He has some things to tell us."

* * *

><p>The Legion assembled in the common room. Dream Girl stood protectively by Blok- who somehow managed to look uncomfortable, despite being, essentially, a sentient hunk of rock.<p>

"I found Blok at the spaceport, stowed away in the luggage compartment of the same ship that brought those kids that attacked McCauley," she told them. "The ship was on an indirect course here from Xanthu, and made a stop-over on Dryad- where they picked up our new friend, here."

She patted Blok affectionately.

"Go ahead."

Lightning Lad stood up quickly.

"You're just going to let in any old person you meet-"

She scowled at him. "He's not going to be any trouble. I've dreamed this all already."

"Oh yeah? And how do we know that-"

"She's not lying, Garth," Saturn Girl told him. "I can hear her thinking about the dream."

"And how do you know she's not making it up?" he muttered, but sat down anyway.

Blok shifted with a noise like shale sliding down a slope. When he spoke, it sounded like gravel tumbling together.

"A few months ago, a representative of the McCauley Company came to our planet. He talked to the Great Congress and had many meetings with the Torahn. He promised that the Company would increase revenue for the planet. We are not poor, but we believe in investment. The Company produced contracts for the government to sign to let them establish facilities on Dryad. The Great Congress looked over them for many days, and then signed them. Then the McCauley Company came and started to _mine._"

Sun Boy looked puzzled.

"Mining? There are plenty of asteroids for that-"

Blok looked at him, in a way that could only be described as 'gravely'.

"No one has ever mined on Dryad."

"_No one _ever_?_" Cosmic Boy asked, dumbfounded.

Blok nodded.

"It is- wrong, to do such a thing; on Dryad. We, the-"

He said something that sounded like he was gargling rocks.

"Excuse me?" Dawnstar asked.

"The natives- the people like me- we come from the rock. It- it would be like if a company went to a hospital, or a birthing center, and tore the unborn babies from the mothers in the maternity ward or smashed the incubation wombs."

The Legion thought of this for a moment.

"Didn't you tell them what they were doing?" Triplicate Girl asked, horrified.

"Of course we did. But the representative came back, and said that we had signed the contracts, and that we could not stop them."

"Dryad's a UP world," Phantom Girl said firmly. "You can appeal-"

"And have it be lost in the Senatorial Court?" Blok asked. "Dryad is not an important world, and the McCauley Company makes the United Planets more money in a year than Dryad has seen in the last five decades. It would be delayed, or pushed aside, or dismissed as the stupidity of a rural world and a backwater peoples."

Tyroc pounded the table.

"See? You see what happens when no one is looking- when no one pays attention-"

"I know, Troy." Saturn Girl's face was set. "I know."

"These kids that were at the Symposium," Gim pressed. "They weren't like you. They knew?"

"Dryad was 'colonized' by humans early in your species first trips into deep space. They did not know at first what the rocks held, and were scared of the way the earth moved. But they learned, and our two peoples have lived peacefully together ever since."

* * *

><p>Ki-Lun lurked in the trees of Shuster Park, far from the official paths through the forest.<p>

"I can't believe they got Wi Kan," Chey said, sitting on a branch a few yards below her. "I mean, it was his plan, and they've always worked before-"

"When we were just sabotaging the mining equipment," Yer muttered.

Chey frowned at him.

"But he got us off the planet, too! And kept us from getting caught-"

Yer sighed and sublimated into mist, floating up to Ki-Lun's branch. She was carefully stripping the bark off a broken twig with one razor talon.

"Do you want me to go out into the city? I can figure out where McCauley is staying-"

Ki-Lun snapped the twig.

"No, Yer. McCauley's easy to track- you just have to follow the trail of destruction. There are some _other_ people we need to take care of first."

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad sat on a shipping crate in the hangar that was currently housing McCauley's ship. Saturn Girl and Element Lad were wandering around the hangar, talking occasionally between checking out-of-the-way areas.<p>

"What, you're just going to mope?" Phantom Girl asked, phasing through the stack of crates next to him.

"Mope? Why would I mope?"

"Please, I saw your face when you didn't get any sparks up on that stage."

He scowled at her.

"Did Dawnstar call back yet?"

Phantom Girl rolled her eyes.

"You'd have heard if she'd found these people yet. Imra would've said."

Leland McCauley entered the hangar. Cosmic Boy closed the door firmly behind him.

"Do we really have to protect this guy?" Lightning Lad asked, disgusted. "After what Blok said?"

_:We have to protect _everyone_, Garth.:_

* * *

><p>Dream Girl sat in the front room of Legion Headquarters, legs crossed, waiting.<p>

Presently, the door was forced open. Ki-Lun entered first, followed closely by Chey and Yer.

Dream Girl stood and settled herself comfortably on the balls of her feet.

"You're not going to get through here, you know," she told them conversationally.

"Watch us!" Ki-Lun challenged, slashing at her.

The Legionnaire moved quickly, deflecting her arm. Ki-Lun lunged, forcing her to dodge.

Chey and Yer took advantage of the continued fight to dash across the room into the rest of Legion Headquarters.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy and Tyroc sat at a table, eating lunch.<p>

The door burst open, and Chey and Yer tumbled through, trying to stop and sort themselves out.

Tyroc was on his feet first, breath already drawn. His scream made the lights flicker, and knocked Sun Boy back into his chair. Chey and Yer stumbled and fell to the ground.

Tyroc ran out of breath, and before he could breathe in again Yer had sublimated. He hung in a cloud over the floor for a moment, then quickly forced himself through the air towards the Legionnaire. The Marzali boy made a strangled noise as he breathed in, gasping for air.

Chey jumped up, transforming into light when his feet left the ground. Sun Boy forced himself to his feet and pulled his teammate into clearer air. Tyroc gasped and took a few deep breaths as Yer pulled himself back together and composed himself. He took a step towards the Legionnaire.

"Go," Troy told Dirk, voice a little hoarse, pushing him towards where Chey was zooming through the air. "I've got this one."

* * *

><p>Nura held up her arm in a basic block to fend off Ki-Lun's swipe, running on automatic.<p>

She only remembered her talons when they sliced open her forearm.

Dream Girl stepped back and clutched her wounded arm, instincts kicking in. Ki-Lun shoved her out of the way and ran after her companions.

* * *

><p>Chey shot around the room, careening off the windows and polished surfaces in the room.<p>

Sun Boy spun around, trying to keep his eyes on him.

Chey ricocheted off the kitchen countertop and slammed straight into him.

Dirk was blown over backwards and tumbled across the floor, slamming into his chair. He sat up carefully, wincing, and touched his chest where he'd been hit.

He looked down.

He wasn't hurt.

Sun Boy watched the zooming light beam again- well, it was hot and bright, wasn't it? Fire was part light, part heat-

The Legionnaire stood and held his hands out, unsure about the feasibility of his idea but determined to try.

Chey hit a window and sped back towards his foe.

Fire erupted in the air in front of Sun Boy. Chey hit it. The fire writhed and shivered, bending and twisting in defiance of the laws of nature.

The light was still faintly discernable from the fire, but it was quickly losing coherence, fading away and bleeding into the blistering flames.

Chey tried to drop out of his light form. He was halfway back, a humanoid form made of light, when he screamed.

It was horrible- ear-splitting and soul-piercing.

Instantly, Sun Boy killed the flames.

* * *

><p>Tyroc stood slightly stooped over, still taking deep, measured breaths. He watched Yer get closer out of the corner of his eye.<p>

Just a little bit farther…

He let his attacker take a few more steps, coming within arms' reach.

Then he heaved himself forward and caught the other boy in the stomach with his fist. The breath woofed out of Yer's lungs and he backed up a step.

Tyroc stood to his full height and screamed once more.

Yer staggered back, hands over his ears. Halfway through one step, he evaporated back into gas. The cloud pulled together, trying not to be blown to shreds.

Tyroc let his scream die out and watched the cloud carefully. The trick was to look like he wasn't preparing for anything.

Yer darted forward, distorting the air.

Tyroc screamed again with the breath he'd taken through his nose.

This time the cloud was too close to condense and save itself. The scream tore through it and scattered the gas particles across the room. The air blurred slightly as Yer tried to gather himself together once more.

Tyroc screamed again. It hit the gathering cloud on one side and forced it into the rest of the gas.

Yer quickly sublimated himself out of the air- just in time to catch a fist to his jaw.

* * *

><p>Ki-Lun pounded down the hallway, spurred on by the screams. She turned a corner and ran straight into what seemed like a wall of stone.<p>

She up at the obstacle from the floor, squinting a little to focus her suddenly fuzzy vision.

"I am sorry," Blok said. "But I cannot let you pass."

"You're protecting them?" Ki-Lun spat. "They're protecting McCauley! How can you betray your people like that?"

Blok reached down and picked her up.

"If I do not protect even those who do not appear to deserve it, how can I justify my desire to protect those who really are innocent?" he asked. "If everyone's existence does not matter equally, then what is to stop people from arbitrarily making judgments about the value of a person?"

Ki-Lun thrashed, talons raising sparks where they scraped across Blok's rocky body.

Dream Girl came walking down the hallway, clutching her arm. She saw Blok holding Ki-Lun and smiled.

Together, they walked into the kitchen.

Chey was out on the floor, the tiles around him smoking slightly.

Tyroc entered through the opposite door, dragging Yer with him.

Dream Girl smiled again and put one hand on Blok's arm.

"Good job, boys."

* * *

><p><span>Author Note<span>

_Usually I would not even consider doing this, but- readers, I know I'm getting visitors. The lack of reviews is worrying me. The silence makes me feel as though I'm doing something wrong and disappointing you all. Can I have some feedback, please? I want to know that I'm not doing a horrible job._


	8. Boundaries

**Chapter 7**

"**Boundaries"**

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad pushed buttons of the control panel of the cruiser, entranced.<p>

"Stop that," Sun Boy ordered, swatting his hand away from his seat in the pilot's chair. "You're going to mess something up!"

"Says who?"

"Says me! What do you know about cruisers, anyway?"

"I can't know any more than _you_. Why are you driving this thing, anyway? Isn't it illegal?"

Sun Boy looked resolutely off into space through the giant window in front of him.

"I'm a certified pilot."

His teammate looked at him.

"You're messing with me."

"No, you can look it up in the UP records. I passed a year ago. On my twelfth birthday."

"That's crazy," Lightning Lad said flatly. "Twelve-year-olds don't _do_ that sort of stuff."

Sun Boy snorted. "Oh, and you're, what, my age? Thirteen? Fourteen?"

"Thirteen," Garth muttered.

"And look at us now," Dirk said, waving his hand around the room.

Phantom Girl and Saturn Girl were having a conversation near the back of the bridge. Meanwhile Tyroc, Marla Latham, and Blok sat huddled around a table, where Tyroc was pointing out the finer details of some card game to their newest teammate.

"I still can't believe Cos let Dream Girl talk him into letting that rock stay."

Dirk slapped him on the arm.

"Hey, be nice. Blok's a good guy- don't go insulting him."

He checked the flight coordinates.

"And it's been nearly two months. Let it go."

Lightning Lad sighed and stuck his chin in his hand, resting his elbow on the console.

The ship shuddered.

"Hey! You're messing with the buttons again!" Sun Boy shouted, pushing him away. This only made Lightning Lad's arm slide across more of the control panel.

The ship shuddered again and lurched, throwing everyone but Sun Boy, firmly strapped into the pilot's seat, to one side.

Frantically, he tried to type in the correct code that would set the computer into a systems reboot. He got it on the fourth try, hands slipping across the keyboard because of the strange vibrations coming through the ship.

The lights went out for a moment, and once the last glow had faded from the panels lining the underside of the window in front they snapped back to life.

Sun Boy winced and rubbed the place on his shoulder where the restraining harness had bit into his flesh.

"And that's why they tell you to remain seated on starline flights," he told no one in particular.

Phantom Girl glared at Lightning Lad. "You. Step away from the consoles. _Now._"

Grumbling, he stood- then took a step, tripped on the edge of the platform the pilot's seat sat on, and banged his head against a panel.

An alarm went off.

"What did you do now?" she demanded.

Sun Boy reached over to his right and pushed a button. A diagram of interconnecting lines superimposed itself over the stars in the window.

"That's not anything Lightning Lad did, Phantom Girl- that means the ship's picked up a distress signal."

His finger traced a path through the air, following one of the lines.

"There. Everybody take a seat-and strap yourselves in this time."

He waited a moment for everyone to finish, then pushed the thrust levers to their full extent, sending the cruiser zooming off through space.

* * *

><p>In the floating outpost of Riglef II, an alarm blip appeared on the screen.<p>

The station commander frowned and turned.

"What was that?"

"Instruments have detected a foreign signal in our sovereign space," one of the technicians said.

Another technician held his hand over his headset, listening carefully to the transmission; then tapped out a command into the computer. The signal, translated from Interlac, played out over the room's speakers.

"_'This is the passenger transport ship '_Pride of the Stars_', tag zero-six-two-four-two-nine-nine-one-three-zero-five-el-ee-vee-bee-oh-ay-tee, hailing on all frequencies. We have been attacked by Sklarian Raiders and are drifting in the Val-Or system without power. We have a full complement of civilian passengers and crew. Please assist. This is the passenger transport shi-'_"

The station commander reached over the technician's shoulder and ended the replay.

"Get me Surface Control."

She waited for a few moments and then her earpiece cut in.

"Guard Outpost Riglef II, what is the nature of your call?"

"This is Station Commander Gand," the woman said. "I need to speak to Surface Commander Oliver Roynan. We have a foreign ship in Daxamite Sovereign Space."

The switchboard operator was silent for a minute.

"Commander Roynan? Commander Gand, are you _sure-_"

"It would take me _one call_ to find out where you live and five minutes of waiting to find out the daily schedules of those you hold dear. _Get me Commander Roynan._"

The operator swallowed. "Yes ma'am."

The technicians very carefully pretended not to hear anything their commander said and pointedly avoided looking at one another while she listened to Surface Command.

After a few minutes she strode back to her elevated workstation and pushed a few buttons. A ship captain appeared on a giant screen in front of her.

"Captain Paget, take the Frigate '_Dalan's Victorious_' out to the Bal Asteroid Field. The foreign passenger transport '_Pride of the Stars_' is stranded there. Blow it out of orbit."

* * *

><p>The Legion cruiser dropped out of hyperspace just inside the edge of the Val-Or system.<p>

"Where are we now?" Tyroc asked.

Sun Boy pointed out the window to a distant point of light, dim compared to some of the other stars visible.

"That's the star Val-Or-"

"_Daxam?_" Phantom Girl interrupted. "You're _serious_ about that? We're in _Daxamite Airspace?_"

"That's where the signal's coming from."

She buried her face in her hands and moaned.

"Tanzl protect us- we're going to get blow to pieces!"

He pulled up a map of the system- a red dot marked an area in an asteroid field a few orbitals out from a planet prominently marked 'Daxam'.

"There, in the Bal Asteroid Field."

Lightning Lad looked at Phantom Girl oddly.

"Blown to pieces?"

"Daxam is a planet of xenophobes," Saturn Girl told him. "They don't take intrusions into their airspace lightly."

Lightning Lad looked at the red dot on the map.

"Let's make this quick, then."

* * *

><p>"Commander Gand!' the technician said urgently. "A new signal just appeared inside the system- and it's headed straight for the Bal Asteroid Field!"<p>

Within seconds, the Commander was leaning over the back of his chair to get a better look.

"What ship is it? Is it United Planets?"

The technician consulted his data readouts.

"Ship's tags are zero-four-one-seven-three-zero-zero-three-zero-zero-see-are-you-ess-tee-are-bee-ess-pee-ee-see. They match no tags on file."

The Commander went over this in her head for a moment.

"You're sure about that second set of zeroes and the ess-pee-ee-see?"

"Yes, Commander," the technician answered nervously. "Only ship of its production line, and a specialized model."

"Who needs a ship like that?" she muttered to herself, then glared at the technician. "Is it displaying a flag?"

He nodded wordlessly and pushed a key. A black-and-gold insignia came up on the screen.

"What is _that?_"

When there was no answer, Commander Gand transferred the image to the giant screen over her workstation.

"Does anyone know this flag?"

All around the room people shook their heads or made indistinct noises of disagreement.

"Commander!" the technician on interception duty said. "I'm picking up a transmission from the new ship!"

* * *

><p>"There!" Saturn Girl said, pointing out the window.<p>

Lightning Lad squinted and just managed to make out the bulk of a passenger starline in the midst of the asteroid field.

"Are you sure we can get in there?" he asked doubtfully.

"Leave it to me," Sun Boy said confidently, and nudged the cruiser towards the asteroids.

Lightning Lad clutched the back of the pilot's seat and nervously eyed the massive chunks of rock and metal zipping by.

"Phantom Girl, send a message to the starliner. Let them know we're coming."

She nodded and opened a hailing frequency.

"This is the Legion Cruiser, tags zero-four-one-seven-three-zero-zero-three-zero-zero-see-are-you-ess-tee-are-bee-ess-pee-ee-see, hailing '_Pride of the Stars'_. We're entering the asteroid field now. We're going to get you out. Do you read me, '_Pride of the Stars'_?"

A somewhat-shaky voice answered. "This is '_Pride of the Stars_'. We read you, Legion Cruiser. How close are you?"

"Two minutes," Sun Boy said under his breath.

"Two minutes," Phantom Girl repeated.

Suddenly, Saturn Girl's voice echoed in their heads.

_:We need to be faster than that. Daxam's sent a frigate to destroy the starliner.:_

* * *

><p>"<em>'Legion Cruiser'<em>?" Commander Gand asked.

"Um," said one of the technicians, typing frantically on his keyboard. "No matches in the Daxamite Airspace Records, and no matches on the Daxamite Computer Network."

The Commander frowned, then touched her earpiece.

"Commander Roynan?" she asked. "This is Commander Gand again."

"What is it, Commander Gand?"

"Another ship is headed for the stranded passenger transport. It's given its name as _'Legion Cruiser'_. Do you know what that is?"

Commander Roynan was silent for a long moment.

"Ariel," he said gravely. "Do _not_ engage the ship in any conversation. Do _not _send anyone else out after the ship."

"If it's that dangerous, why isn't it the records?"

"It's new, Ariel. It's the personal transport of the worst abomination in the galaxy."

Commander Gand's face was a study in anger and disgust.

"The President of the United Planets?"

"Even worse. They've recently come up with a new idea- a 'Legion of Superheroes'. They take their so-called '_gifted_' children and mix them all together, regardless to species pollution, and let them fight their criminals. They're no older than your children, Ariel."

Her lip curled. "If they weren't alien scum I'd almost be tempted to feel sorry for them. Imagine, forcing children to fight murders and thugs."

"By all accounts they volunteered."

Commander Gand snorted. "Then good riddance to them and their astounding example of the stupidity of lesser beings. Thank you, Ol-Vir."

* * *

><p>"They're going to blow up the starliner?" Tyroc said, attempting to stay quiet. "They haven't done anything!"<p>

"Yeah," said Sun Boy, still focusing on navigating. "The UP will have their heads in no time."

"No they won't," Phantom Girl said. "Don't you guys know anything about Daxam?"

Lightning Lad looked at the others.

"Just what you've told us."

She sighed. "They're descended from _Kryptonians_, Lightning Lad. If they leave the system they get _all_ the powers of Superman. If they got to war they'll be _thousands_ of them to a ship- and wars get fought with _whole fleets._"

"Oh," he said after a moment, looking stunned. "Wow. Okay."

"But they can't just let that sort of thing go!" Sun Boy said hotly.

"You'd be surprised what they let go," Tyroc muttered.

"Perhaps we should focus instead on rescuing the people," Blok rumbled. "The ship is quite close now."

Everyone looked out the window. Sure enough, the stranded starliner was floating powerless, mercifully far away from any asteroids.

But beyond it, a massive frigate was bearing down from above the asteroid field, steadily getting closer to its firing range.

"We're going to need a distraction," Lightning Lad said.

* * *

><p>Something beeped on the bridge of '<em>Dalan's Victorious<em>'.

Captain Paget momentarily glanced down from his seat in the commander's chair.

"Sir, the ship '_Legion Cruiser_' is attempting to make contact," the communications officer said.

"Ignore them," he said. "Continue on charted course."

A few moments later, there was another beep.

"Continue ignoring them," the Captain ordered, eyes fixed on the growing bulk of the passenger transport.

* * *

><p>"They're not responding!" Phantom Girl said frantically. "I <em>know <em>they're receiving the signal but they won't answer!"

"Call the starliner instead," Sun Boy advised. "I need them to open their docking bay."

"Don't bother," Saturn Girl said. "The ship was too damaged for them to deploy it automatically-I can hear the captain worrying about how we're going to get aboard. Phantom Girl, can you phase through the hull and reach the starliner? If you can get aboard you can use your powers to trigger the docking clamp, and then we can get the doors open."

She eyed the space between the two ships doubtfully.

"Maybe if we were a little closer-"

Sun Boy inched the cruiser forward.

"Just say when."

She watched their progress carefully. "Now! Stop!"

The cruiser shuddered to a halt.

* * *

><p>Tinya backed up to the edge of the bridge and ran towards the far wall to build up speed.<p>

She phased through the hull and hung for a moment in the emptiness of space before her momentum sent her soaring through the outside of the starliner.

Phantom Girl didn't quite manage to stop before her feet went through the floor, so she let herself drop down into the next deck before re-solidifying. She hit the ground and rolled to use up the energy she'd gained, then got to her feet and turned.

Four aisles of starline passengers stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Hi," she said, and a waved a little nervously. "Can anyone tell me where the docking bay is?"

One of the stewards pointed wordlessly out the door behind her.

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>"That frigate is getting a lot closer," Sun Boy said, trying not to sound nervous. The docking clamp had just released and he'd managed to get it attached to the cruiser's boarding doors.<p>

Lightning Lad looked at the approaching ship. "Don't we have guns or something? Shoot at it!"

"When Mr. Brande commissioned this ship for you he didn't expect you to be taking on naval vessels," Marla Latham said, a little severely. "That hit-it-now attitude of yours is going to get you in serious trouble someday."

"It already has, Mr. Latham," Saturn Girl said. "Remember?"

"You said we needed a distraction," Tyroc cut in, looking pointedly at Lightning Lad. "How are we supposed to distract a frigate if we can't fire at them?"

No one said anything. Then Lightning Lad noticed Blok looking at Saturn Girl.

He looked at her too, thoughtfully.

She glared heatedly at him.

"No, no, no, no, and _NO!_ We've _had_ this discussion before, Lightning Lad; and I am _not_ going to do it!"

"If you don't everyone on that starliner is going to die," he told her. "And probably us, too, from what Tinya said, because that frigate will blow us up after it's done with them."

"I-"

_I know you wouldn't do this sort of thing just to do it, Imra- but we're trying to save a ship here. _Please_?_

She glared at him for another full minute, then turned away.

"_Fine_. But I'm _just_ going to talk. I am _not_ going to mess around in their heads."

"That's fine. Just distract them, okay?"

He turned to Blok and Tyroc. "We're going to need you two to break down the docking doors. Then we'll meet up with Phantom Girl and start getting people onto the ship, okay?"

* * *

><p><em>:<em>Excuse _me.:_

Everyone on the bridge of '_Dalan's Victorious_' jumped.

_What-?_ thought Captain Paget.

_:Why aren't you answering our calls?:_ the voice continued.

"Where are you?" Captain Paget roared, standing.

_:I'm on my ship. Why are you going to fire on the starliner? It hasn't done anything to you.:_

The navigation officer's eyes widened.

"Sir! The second ship- they must have a telepath with them!"

"Bloody aliens!" the Captain roared again. "Get out of my head!"

_:I'm sorry, but if you won't answer our calls we have to do it this way. Why are you going to fire on that starliner?:_

"You've dragged your _filth_ into our system! And you're not content with that –_oh,_ no!- you have to pollute our _heads_, too! Who_ knows_ what lies you're planting in there at this very moment without our knowledge!"

If it was possible, he felt the voice flinch.

_:I _promise_ I'm not messing with your heads. I just want to talk.:_

"_Get out!_" he said through clenched teeth. "_GET OUT!_"

The voice seemed to steel itself.

_:No. I can't.:_

"Yes you c-"

_:I will _not_, Reg Paget, until you _give your word_ that you will _not _fire on that starliner, and that you'll let us all go in peace!:_

"No! Never!"

_:Then I'm not leaving.:_

Captain Paget whirled on his crew.

"Are we in range yet?" he demanded.

The navigation officer checked his charts. "We haven't quite reached-"

"_Can we hit them?_"

"We might graze the back hull of the transport ship-"

"THEN _FIRE!_"

* * *

><p>Passengers screamed as the ship rocked. Blok held out a hand to steady himself against the hull and tried to keep the people closest to him on their feet.<p>

Lightning Lad reeled for a moment. He'd nearly regained his balance when Saturn Girl's voice spoke in his mind.

_:Garth, they're not stopping! They're starting to fire NOW!: _

_We'd noticed. Imra-_

_:I've _seen_ their minds now, Garth.: _she said grimly._ :They don't care that these are civilians- this is like killing wild animals to them, except that there's plenty of people on this ship that would never do that. You don't have to ask me.:_

_We've got most of the passenger decks unloaded- Mr. Marla's talking with the crew and getting them to help evacuate. Just buy us a little more time._

_And I'm sorry._

* * *

><p><em>:You <em>really_ shouldn't've done that.:_

"Back again, _filth?_" Captain Paget growled.

_:Those are _civilians_, you monster. They aren't hurting anyone- they just want to go home. And _we're_ going to get them there.:_

"We're in range now, Captain," the navigating officer said.

"Good," he said, smile spreading across his face. "Fi_ackgh!_"

The bridge froze as Captain Paget fell to the ground, hands clawing at his throat. His eyes glowed pink for an instant, and then he lay still.

The officer manning the weapons console quickly reached for the button to fire again. He too fell to the ground before passing out.

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl spread her mind over the entire frigate, making sure she touched every mind.<p>

She projected what had happened to the Captain to everyone aboard.

_:NO ONE. MOVE.:_

* * *

><p>"That everybody?" Lightning Lad asked, leaning against the bulkhead and looking down the hallway as Blok escorted a few lagging children into the Legion cruiser.<p>

Phantom Girl phased through the nearest wall.

"I've looked everywhere and didn't see anybody."

He looked around, face drawn slightly.

"I _really_ hope we're not forgetting anybody," he said to himself, then cupped his hands around his mouth and turned down the hallway.

_"We're moving out!" _he yelled.

Tyroc and the ship's pilot came bolting around the corner at a dead run. Garth and Tinya waited for them to pass, then ran after them.

The all passed through the cruiser's boarding doors at the same time. Marla Latham hit the controls as they came through and the doors hissed shut behind them, docking clamp unhooking. Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, and Tyroc went straight up to the bridge, where Sun Boy had already started to move back through the asteroids.

As Phantom Girl and Tyroc joined Blok under Sun Boy's direction, Lightning Lad went over to where Saturn Girl was standing, motionless.

"Imra?" he said quietly. "How are you doing?"

"I've just got to clear the asteroids and then we can hit hyperspace again," Sun Boy said to no one in particular. "Once we're there we're home free."

_:Just get ready to catch me, Garth. And don't panic.:_

_Wha-?_

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl quickly contracted her mental focus only to cover the bridge of <em>'Dalan's Victorious'<em> and the surrounding area.

Then, before anyone could react, she gathered all of her mental concentration and power and _blasted_ every mind she was touching.

On _'Dalan's Victorious'_, every officer on the bridge fell over their consoles, out cold. In the hallways and nearby chambers, people's legs gave way beneath them or they slumped out of chairs.

On the bridge of the Legion cruiser, Imra collapsed into Garth's arms.

"_We're clear!_" she heard Sun Boy yell as her vision started to fade out. There was the familiar pulling sensation of a ship making a jump to hyperspace, and she finally lost consciousness as the cruiser sped out of Daxamite Airspace and back towards the safety of the borders of the United Planets.


	9. Long Arm of the Law

**Chapter 8**

"**Long Arm of the Law"**

* * *

><p>President Winema Wazzo of the United Planets looked at Cosmic Boy and sighed.<p>

"Daxam is_ not_ happy, Legionnaire."

Rokk steeled himself some more.

"They were going to kill all those people, Madame President."

She leaned forward and rested her arms on her office desk.

"Do you know how much it takes to get Daxam to talk to outsiders?" she asked. When he didn't respond after a few moments she sighed and continued. "The_ last_ time Daxam spoke to us it was because a naval attachment was forced to make an emergency drop out of hyperspace into their system. President Thawne spent a solid_ week_ reassuring them that we didn't do it on purpose. You know how long it's been since your little excursion?"

"Three weeks," he said promptly.

"And you _do _realize that we're _still_ talking with Daxam about this? They're _furious_. You_ were_ technically outside your jurisdiction- Daxam has always refused to join the United Planets."

In Legion HQ, Cosmic Boy looked at her, face set.

"I'm sorry, Madam President- but I don't think that jurisdiction should matter when there are lives to be saved."

The President smiled tiredly at the image of the determined young man on her screen.

"You're young."

Cosmic Boy opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.

"How's my dear Tinya doing?"

"She's fine, Madame President. She actually helped save a lot of people on that ship."

Winema smiled.

"Yes, I'd heard. Just- please, remember your limits in the future?"

She ended the transmission.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl was lingering over breakfast, joined by a late-waking Element Lad.<p>

Nura looked at him; thinking.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

He looked back at her.

"How do you mean?"

"Here, in the Legion." She sat up and settled back in her chair. "Why did you join?"

Jan took his cup in both hands and rested his forearms on the table.

"When Mr. Brande suggested it to me, it felt… _right_. And the more I thought about it, the more right it felt that I should come here. That this is where I_ had _to be- where I _should_ be. Like destiny, I suppose."

She laughed slightly.

"Destiny, huh? I know all about destiny," Nura told him, looking off towards the far wall.

Jan watched her for a moment.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you join the Legion?"

She smiled mysteriously.

"I had a vision."

He smiled at her knowingly.

"I think we all do."

* * *

><p>Rokk hit the streets of New Metropolis, out of uniform.<p>

The Legion had been established as a mostly-autonomous arm of the United Planets' Executive branch, he knew that.

But wouldn't the government care more about the fact that they'd saved lives than that they'd done so in someone else's territory?

And, maybe it was cold- but especially when it had been a shipload of their_ own_ civilians?

He sighed, frustrated. He _hated_ politics. _Surely_ no one else had this problem? You never heard about the Science Police getting in trouble for leaving their bounds.

_Maybe because they never do_, a little voice in his head said.

Rokk shoved it away and finally paid attention to where he was. He'd walked the entire length of the boulevard that connected Legion Plaza to Heroes' Square.

He looked up at the statues now surrounding him, ignoring the tourists taking advantage of the clear weather to take pictures.

_I bet no one ever told any of _you_ to stay within your boundaries._

The little voice returned.

_But that was the problem, wasn't it?_ it said. _That's why they fell as hard as they did. And you don't want turn out like that, do you?_

Cosmic Boy shook his head and turned down another street.

* * *

><p>It was some time later when he heard the alarm go off.<p>

He acted instinctively, whirling around to see a woman running from a mansion a ways off, flinging out his hand to better channel the magnetic force, watching the woman lift into the air as the metal on her clothes responded to Rokk's mental commands.

Two people came running out of the building after the thief. One, taller than the other, pulled ahead and skidded to a stop next to the floating robber.

Cos looked at him.

It was the sort of person you'd expect to see when you thought of 'hired muscle'- broad-shouldered, thick arms, hands that looked made for punching. He wore a sort of household uniform .

The other man caught up- the two of them could have been twins, but for the height difference. He fished through the thief's pockets and came up with a yellow power ring.

The first one back at him.

"Thanks for the help, kid, but you can put her down now."

The Legionnaire looked at the two of them.

"No, thanks. I think I'll wait for the police."

* * *

><p>"And when you got there, he was just holding this thief up in mid-air," New Metropolis's Chief of Police Lon Norg said.<p>

Sergeant Itxaro Alatea Esquivel shifted on her feet slightly.

"Yes, sir. He had a small audience, as well."

Chief Norg looked fiercely at the other person in the room.

"Rule number six."

"'_Do not make a scene'_," Officer Gigi Cusimano recited dutifully. "_'We are not a travelling show. Police do not get paid to be entertaining'_."

The Chief raised an eyebrow.

"And the exception?"

"'_Community outreach and education is an acceptable duty for an Officer to execute in a humorous or entertaining fashion, if it will make the lessons taught more memorable'_."

"Very good," he said gruffly. "I'm glad you've learned your lessons better than your_ former_ partner."

Gigi flushed, thinking of the one unsupervised patrol she'd taken with Gim Allon.

He turned back to Sergeant Esquivel.

"What did this thief try to steal?"

"A yellow Lantern ring, sir."

Chief Norg pulled a face.

"The thrice-damned Lantern Corps? They still keep relics of them around?"

"The lady who was robbed has quite a few rings, sir. The thief only managed to break into the case for one of them."

Chief Norg dropped her written report onto a stack of similar forms.

"You and Officer Cusimano are to go straight back to that museum and inspect that display. Check the other ones, too. I _refuse_ to have another incident like we did a few months back with that museum."

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy returned to Legion HQ and walked into the common room.<p>

Dream Girl didn't even look up from her seat on the couch.

"You had an interesting day."

He stopped.

"It's gotten here already?"

"No, Rokk- just me. Precog, remember?"

He sighed and headed for the kitchen.

"Don't get too comfortable!" she called after him.

A few moments later she felt the couch sag. She looked over at her teammate, now sitting despondently beside her.

"I don't get it," Cos admitted. "I was just _helping._"

"And yet those police looked at you like scum."

"That's my _job_," he said. "It's _their_ job too, to catch criminals."

"Go talk to Colossal Boy about it," Dream Girl advised. "I bet _he_ could enlighten you."

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy sat in the slightly-too-small chair, minding the phone.<p>

It beeped suddenly, urgently.

He pressed the button.

Mysteriously, words began to scroll across the screen; instead of showing someone's face

Quickly, he wrote down the address.

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy led the mission team into the robbed mansion, only to run straight into a police line.<p>

The officer standing in the doorway to the main room crossed her arms and planted her feet firmly.

"You're not allowed in here."

He stopped, confused, and the rest of the Legion tried to halt before they piled into his back.

"We're not?" he asked. "Why?"

"Chief's orders."

Cosmic Boy pushed his way through his teammates to stand by the barrier.

"We're just trying to help," he told her, arms crossed.

"We don't need your help," she said. "The Science Police are perfectly competent at what they do."

"Oh, why not let them help, Officer Esquivel?" someone asked.

The Legionnaires stared.

There was a woman standing on the stairs visible behind the officer in the back of the room- she was tall, with sweeping black hair, dressed rather simply in a white button-up shirt and black dress pants. She wore little jewelry, just thick, matching silver bracelets on both wrists.

"Ms. Prince," Sergeant Esquivel said quickly. "I really don't think-"

"This _is_ my house, Sergeant. I think it's wonderful that they've come; and I would love it if the Legion would help. Let them in."

The Sergeant glared at them all for a moment before stepping aside.

The Legionnaires filed in and looked around at the room. The lighting was a little dim, but plenty bright enough to see by. The area was furnished like a sitting room, and was clearly meant for receiving visitors.

Along the wall opposite the door was a long mahogany table. Nine small glass display cases sat on top, evenly distributed.

Five were empty.

"You lost_ five_ power rings?" Phantom Girl asked, aghast.

Nichola Prince shook her head.

"No- the two on the ends have always been empty. The thief-"

She pointed to the second and third boxes; and then to the sixth.

"-stole those. I had a different break-in earlier today that I was lucky enough to have Cosmic Boy intervene in."

Ms. Prince smiled at the Legion Leader, who shifted a little uncomfortably.

"That was this one," she told them, tapping the top of the fourth case. "I have no idea why anyone would want these rings- they haven't done anything in centuries. And if they were just going to try and re-sell them, they'd have a hard time finding a market. Everyone who deals in Heroic artifacts knows that _I_ own them. And anyone who did by them would never be able to display them."

"Some people are like that, Ms. Prince," Sergeant Esquivel said, a little stiffly. "It's enough for them to know that they have something without telling anyone else."

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy stood in the back of the room, trying not to hit the ceiling with his head. He had ventured any farther inside than the left of the doorway because of the lower roof, and he could see just fine in the back of the group.<p>

Unfortunately, it also meant he had an uninterrupted view of the room.

It was impossible for him to miss seeing Gigi Cusimano; tucked discreetly away in a corner.

She found it impossible to miss him looking at her, and slowly sidled over to him along the back wall while everyone else was occupied; taking up station on the other side of the door.

"So…" she said quietly out of the corner of her mouth, firmly not looking at him. "Uh- how've you been?"

"Fine," Gim said, copying her and staring squarely at everyone else's backs. "Just fine."

"Life more… exciting now?"

"Yeah. Miss going on patrol with you, though."

He sneaked a glance at Gigi and saw her turning red.

"I mean it," he whispered. "I still consider you a friend, Gi."

She glanced back at him and smiled.

"I'm not sure SP rules say I'm allowed to say the same."

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl sat in the Legion's common room some time later, chin in her hand.<p>

"How are we supposed to help if the Science Police have orders to keep us away?"

Lightning Lad shrugged.

"We'll figure it out. We've got superpowers."

"I still can't believe how fast that Officer forced us out of there," Sun Boy grumbled. "You'd think _we_ were going to try and steal the other rings."

Colossal Boy shifted uncomfortably, still unhappy about the somewhat-awkward conversation he'd had with Gigi at Nichola Prince's house.

"Well, we have to do something," Cos said firmly, pounding once on the table. "What does anyone know about power rings?"

There was silence around the table.

"Uh- you think things at it and it makes stuff?" Lightning Lad said hesitantly; looking around at the rest of the team.

"I think the different colors did different things, sometimes…" Phantom Girl mentioned slowly.

"People fought about it," Saturn Girl told them. "All the time."

The room fell silent again.

"Does _anyone_ have any more information than that?" Cos asked.

"I do," said an unfamiliar voice.

* * *

><p>Tyroc jumped about three inches out of his chair when the voice spoke; and then nearly fell over when the mystery speaker faded into view next to him.<p>

Sun Boy, sitting next to him, had immediately slid back to the other edge of his seat when the voice spoke, and now stared wide-eyed at the young, brown-haired boy standing casually between him and his teammate.

On the other side of the table, Triplicate Girl had leaned forward to rest face-down on the table.

"Good Lord!" she said quietly.

The boy took a hand out of his jacket pocket and waved; smiling brightly.

"Hi."

Lightning Lad shook his head and finally recovered himself. He jumped from the seat, fist blazing with electricity.

"Who are _you?_" he demanded.

Saturn Girl reached over and placed a hand on his other arm.

"He's not going to hurt anyone, Garth- sit back down."

Reluctantly, he did so.

Cos glared at the stranger.

"And _you_ are…?"

The boy- he wasn't just _short_, Cos realized, he really _was_ a few years younger than everyone else- took both hands out of his pockets.

"Lyle Norg."

"You're Chief Norg's son!" Colossal Boy exclaimed, straightening up a little. "I saw you around a few times at NMSPD HQ!"

"Really?" Lyle asked, tone light. "Dang. I need to work on my sneaking."

"Sneaking?"

Lyle shrugged. "Dad doesn't know I'm there. He just thinks I just stay at home all day doing stuff, and I haven't told him otherwise."

"Am I right in assuming that he does not know of your presence here?" Blok asked.

The young boy smiled again.

"Be awfully surprised if he did!"

* * *

><p>Cos leaned forward and buried his face in his hands.<p>

_Is Chief Norg likely to find out he's here?_

_:No,:_ Saturn Girl answered. _:Lyle's used to sneaking out, apparently. I heard him thinking about it just now.: _

He sighed and looked at the newcomer.

"Is there a reason why you're here?"

"Yep!" Lyle said brightly, and flourished a computer chip. "I saw how you guys weren't really told anything about the crime scene, so I stopped by the mansion's security terminus and copied the footage from when the thief showed up!"

There was silence for a split second before anyone spoke.

"Is that… legal?" Triplicate Girl asked doubtfully.

The boy shrugged.

"I did it anyway. Where's your computer?"

Element Lad got up to show him, and while Lyle was busy setting everything up, Phantom Girl looked around the table.

"Nobody ever _did_ tell us what this guy looked like, did they?"

* * *

><p>"Okay," Lyle said a couple minutes later, pointing at the computer screen. "Here's the woman –her name's Uli Algor, by the way, I bet you didn't know<em> that<em>- who tried to steal the ring earlier today."

On the screen, the woman entered the room surreptitiously, scuttled over to one of the display cases, and carefully lifted the glass off. She pocketed the ring and strolled out of the camera's view. A second later, an alarm went off.

Lyle pushed a button and the recording started to fast-forward.

"She's still in her cell at SP Headquarters, and nobody had gotten anything from her last I checked. Anyway, about two hours later, _this_ happens."

The recording started to play again.

The room was empty, and lights were off.

But for the floating, glowing, electric blue cloud that was only vaguely in a humanoid shape.

"A blue _ghost _stole power rings?" Sun Boy asked.

The cloud floated over to the displays and hovered for a moment, seemingly undecided about what to do next. Then it flowed into a few and carefully lifted the glass cases straight off the table, enveloping the rings and dragging them into its center mass.

The display cases were replaced with care, and then the cloud floated out one of the windows.

Lyle stopped the recording.

"About half an hour later some of the household staff came by and noticed the missing rings and called the SPs," he told the Legionnaires.

"So we're looking for a blue glowing cloud," Phantom Girl said. "Shouldn't that be- obvious?"

Lyle shrugged. "The SPs were having a hard time of it, so I guess not."

"Maybe they're just not looking hard enough?" Element Lad suggested.

Colossal Boy shook his head.

"No- they'll be putting a lot of effort into it. They never do anything else."

* * *

><p>Tyroc had been staring at Lyle for the last minute or so, thinking.<p>

"Hey, Kid- you don't know anything about power rings that we don't, do you?"

Lyle fidgeted.

"Well, actually-"

Cos glared at him.

"Out with it."

"You know why people are trying to get Ms. Prince's rings instead of getting a few easier from a museum?"

"Clearly not," Trips told him.

"It's because all the other rings have either crumbled to dust or can't ever be functional again."

"But they're _power_ rings," Lightning Lad said. "They're the most powerful weapons in the galaxy! They don't just- _break!_"

"They did. They do."

"_How?_"

"The Second Galactic War- you know, after Earth started to get into serious interplanetary relations? You know what happened with the Lantern Corps?"

"The Khundians had found the secrets to making power rings that tied into other parts of the emotional spectrum besides willpower and formed their own Lantern Corps," Saturn Girl said. "The Guardians of the Universe sided with them when the attacked the Green Lantern Corps, and then the Khunds attacked everyone else, too. That's how the war started."

Lyle nodded.

"Yeah- after the Guardians were killed, the last couple Green Lanterns defeated the people the Khunds had given their rings to and then turned in their own. One of them- Sodam Yat, he shut _all_ the power of each Lantern Corps into one of their rings. There are only nine rings with any power now, and they have all of it- all the power that was wielded separately by hundreds or thousands of people, in one ring."

Lightning Lad whistled.

"_Wow._"

Phantom Girl just looked stricken.

"_Wait _a minute- there's some _thief_ running around with the power of _three entire Lantern Corps?_"

"In theory!" Lyle said hurriedly, noting the expressions on the Legionnaires' faces. "They've all been dormant since Sodam Yat died- he had the green ring, and it shut off or something when that happened!"

"Hasn't _anyone_ tried to destroy these things?" Sun Boy asked nervously.

"They tried- but like Lightning Lad said, they don't just _break_. The dormant rings are probably indestructible; but the drained ones, like in the museums, they'll smash if you hit them with a hammer now."

"You're _sure_ they're dormant?" Saturn Girl asked.

Lyle nodded.

"Positive. I think they used to have some sort of guiding system to pick people who were suited for the rings, but it must have crashed or something. Nobody's actually _worn_ a ring in centuries."

"So, when we catch this guy, he's not going to be able to smash us into the pavement or throw us into space or something?" Lightning Lad asked.

Lyle shook his head.

"Not unless he's ridiculously-" he looked back at the screen and checked the empty display cases. "-greedy, angry, or hopeful."

"Good," Cos said firmly. "Now, I want a team-"

* * *

><p><em>Y'know, I just thought of something,<em> Phantom Girl thought to the rest of her mission squad. _This guy's a thief. Wouldn't he be _naturally_ greedy?_

_I wish you _hadn't_ thought of that,_ Colossal Boy grumbled.

Saturn Girl's mental voice cut in across everyone else.

_:Dawnstar, are you seeing anything from up there?:_

_Not yet, Saturn Girl,_ Dawnstar said, looking out over the grounds of Nichola Prince's mansion amongst the protective camouflage of the roof gargoyles._ Just gardeners._

Imra turned her attention back to the physical world for a moment and watched the mansion from the woods behind the grounds.

"I can _hear_ you, Lyle. You're not supposed to be here."

Lyle faded into view next to her.

"But I _want_ to help!" he protested. "I _like_ helping!"

"You _have_ helped. Now, please-"

"How are you supposed to know when someone's stolen something?" he asked.

Saturn Girl looked at him.

"The alarms-"

"-didn't go off when that cloud took those other rings. They might not again."

"It's hard to miss a floating blue cloud, Lyle. We'll know. Now, please- go home."

"I don't see why I should," he said, crossing his arms.

"How old are you-ten?"

"I'm _twelve_. You're not much older."

She sighed.

"You aren't a Legionnaire-"

"Tyroc and Blok weren't."

"You don't have any offensive capabilities!"

"Phantom Girl-"

"Can phase out if someone tries to grab her." Saturn Girl stared at him fiercely. "And she's had self-defense training. I know _you_ haven't. Now go before you get hurt."

Grumbling, Lyle faded out of view.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl stood in the one corner out of the view of the security cameras and kept alert.<p>

She would have felt more comfortable standing there phased, but if she did that she'd fall through the floor.

The door slid open, and Tinya quickly stepped behind a chair and knelt down, peeking out from around the arm.

A man in nondescript clothes walked in and stopped briefly in front of the displays, giving each a good look.

Then he carefully levered one up and grabbed the green ring, then ducked back out the door.

Phantom Girl phased through the chair and ran out the door after him just as the alarms went off.

* * *

><p>Sergeant Esquivel had sealed off the end of the hallway the sitting room emptied into that led to the rest of the house and was standing guard with Gigi at the end by the door.<p>

They both jumped a little when the alarms went off, then turned just in time to see Phantom Girl careen out of the room.

Esquivel pulled out her gun quickly.

"Stop right there!" she ordered. "Gigi- grab her!"

The younger officer hesitated.

"I gave you an _order_, Cusimano!"

Somewhat reluctantly, Gigi darted forward and tackled the surprised Legionnaire.

Tinya phased out of the officer's hold and stood up quickly.

"What the-"

"I must say I'm shocked," Esquivel said, gun still out as she advanced. "You've done some good work this past year, and you're the President's daughter besides."

"I was just-"

"Yeah," Gigi said. "I was _sure_ Gim had better judgment than that."

"I don't-"

Esquivel took one hand off her gun and held it out.

"Give me the ring."

Phantom Girl stared at her, completely missing the other Legionnaires rushing into the hallway behind the officers.

"Why should I have it?" she asked incredulously. "And why aren't you chasing the other guy?"

"What other guy?" Gigi asked. "You're the only person who came out of the room."

* * *

><p><em>Hey, Saturn Girl?<em>

Imra stumbled mid-stride and threw out her arms to catch herself, narrowly missing an ornamental bush.

_:LYLE! I _told _you-:_

_Phantom Girl's just been arrested,_ he continued. _Sergeant Esquivel thinks she stole the Green Lantern ring. _

Saturn Girl pulled herself up and starting running for the mansion again, cursing the fact that she was the Legionnaire farthest from the building.

_:WHAT?:_

_She didn't. I've been lurking in the hallway- there was this other guy that did. But there were a few seconds between him getting out of the room and the alarms going off and the officers missed him._

_:Lyle, _what _are you trying to say, here?:_ she asked, annoyed.

_The thief's a shape-shifter. He made himself look like part of the wall and he just slipped out the door- the SPs and your friends were too busy arguing to notice._

Imra stopped and looked around.

_:Why didn't you tell _them?_:_

_Sergeant Esquivel wouldn't listen to me, and I don't think the Legionnaires would right now, either._

Saturn Girl's gaze swept the nearby area again.

_:Okay, fine. What's our thief look like now?:_

Lyle showed her wordlessly, and she immediately spotted the thief.

"You- thief! Stop right there!"

The man broke out running, and Imra charged after him, sending a short mental call to her teammates.

* * *

><p>They had been running for some time now- too long, Imra thought. Despite the physical training she'd done in preparation for a post as a Sci-Pol probationer in New Metropolis –something that had never happened- and the continued daily exercise from being a Legionnaire, her lungs were starting to burn from the lack of air.<p>

The man had shape-shifted five times now, but she'd managed to keep on his trail with Lyle's help. After the last time the thief had changed, though, he'd started to fall behind.

Now, it was just Saturn Girl and the criminal, racing through the back streets of New Metropolis.

He ducked into an alley and she followed him down it. The man turned a corner and stopped sharply, faced with a wall.

Saturn Girl stopped to.

"Well?"

The thief whirled and glared at her. She picked up his thoughts.

"Really? You're going to try and run past me?"

He ducked his head a little and rocketed towards her.

Imra reached out to him with her mind.

For a moment, everything was fine.

And then something grabbed Saturn Girl's mind, pushed through her mental barriers, and started careening about inside her head. The more power she poured into trying to stop it the stronger it became, and, for the first time, Imra found something that was beating her.

And then the thief barreled into her.

Whatever link had allowed the thing to get past her defenses shattered as the two of them hit the ground- hard. Imra was slightly stunned, but still managed to knee the man in the stomach before he got up.

Wincing slightly, she struggled to her feet just in time to see the man turn the corner back into the main alley.

Saturn Girl broke into a stumbling run, determined not to lose him.

* * *

><p>But when she turned the corner, the thief was down on the ground, Lyle sitting on his back.<p>

"Hey!" he said brightly. "Thought I could do a bit more than just follow you around."

Imra stared at him.

"You-"

"Tripped him as he came around the corner. He never knew I was there- he's hit his head on the ground pretty hard, but I think he's going to wake up pretty soon."

The thief moaned.

"Yep, here he comes."

Lyle stood up and brushed his pants off.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys and I'm glad I could help, but I should be getting home now- my mom will be getting back soon and if she doesn't see me in my room she'll panic and call my dad. And Sergeant Esquivel will be catching up here in a minute or two and I can't let her see me."

He looked at her, face worried.

"You won't tell the SPs I was here, right?"

"Not unless I have to," Saturn Girl said distractedly, still staring at the man on the ground.

Lyle smiled, relieved.

"Thanks. Well, see you later then!"

He started to fade.

Saturn Girl looked up.

"Lyle, wait-"

He was already gone.

* * *

><p>Just as Lyle Norg had said, a few minutes later Sergeant Esquivel and Officer Cusimano, accompanied by the rest of the Legion mission team, skidded to a halt in the alley.<p>

Saturn Girl had cautiously probed the thief's mind again, but whatever had gotten to her last time seemed to have gone. She'd pushed him carefully back into unconsciousness and propped him up against the wall.

Sergeant Esquivel looked at her a moment, then regarded the thief.

"Jall Tanusz. There's a familiar face," she muttered to herself.

"This is the man that stole the Lantern ring from Ms. Prince," Imra told her. "I know it, but I've searched him and I can't find the ring."

Esquivel looked at her again, for longer than this time.

"Would you believe that I believe you, even after all this?"

She waved a hand at where Gigi was firmly holding Phantom Girl, who didn't look at all happy.

"Yes. I can hear you thinking about it."

The Sergeant scowled at them all.

"No matter what I think, though, you're all going to have to come down to the station and explain yourselves to Chief Norg. _Personally_."

Saturn Girl picked up a thought from Colossal Boy as Esquivel handcuffed the unconscious thief.

_Oh, _this_ will be fun._

* * *

><p>As they left, no one noticed the faint glint of green in the shadows that rose silently into the air and sped off, under its own power, into the city.<p>

* * *

><p><span>Author Note<span>

_I have a slight bit of business to attend to here: someone reviewed the last chapter and I tried to respond but that user had disabled the Private Messaging function._

_So, to __ermintrude421__ (who I hope is still reading):_

_I'm glad you came to the comics section and looked to see what we're doing here; and even more glad that you've liked what you've seen! I must say I envy you for being a Legion fan since 1959- you've been around for a lot of Legion classics and everything exciting besides that. Thanks for the commentary on the characterization, I know it's probably a lot different now than it was before, but I hope I'll always do a good job with it. _

_I'm very happy you like my story, and I shall continue to 'keep it up'! _


	10. Repercussions, Pt 1

**Chapter 9a**

"**Repercussions, Part 1"**

* * *

><p>New Metropolis Science Police Chief Lon Norg slammed his fist on the table and glared heatedly at the morning's news report.<p>

Then he punched the button on his desk for the building's intercom system.

"_Get up here right _now_, Officer Cusimano!_"

A few minutes later Gigi Cusimano entered his office, slightly out of breath. She stood to attention.

"Yes, Chief?"

"Explain this to me!" he ordered, shoving the report at her.

Gigi took it gingerly and glanced at it.

The headline read 'Science Police Puzzled by Lantern Ring Theft, Legion Steps Up to Arrest Thief'.

_Last week, a known criminal named Jall Tanusz broke into the mansion of Ms. Nichola Prince, CEO of WPI, two times within the same day to steal a total of four still-missing power rings. An attempt had been made on a fifth ring earlier in the day by Tanusz's accomplice Uli Algor, but that theft was halted by Legion Leader Cosmic Boy, who apprehended Algor before she could leave the grounds-_

"I ordered that story to be kept quiet!" Chief Norg said icily. "How did the Daily Galaxy find out about this, Cusimano?"

"I don't know, sir," she said.

"I think you do, Cusimano."

"I really _don't_, sir! I haven't told anyone outside the force what happened!"

Chief Norg glared at her.

"_Who did you tell_, Cusimano?"

"Officer Quav Skada, sir, because he and I went to the Cadet Academy together and he'd heard about the theft and wanted to know if Gim Allon and the Legion had-"

Lon Norg punched the button again.

"_OFFICER SKADA! SERGEANT ESQUIVEL!_"

Gigi waited in uncomfortable silence until her old friend and her Sergeant showed up.

"Sergeant Esquivel, did you know that your two officers here have been gossiping about confidential Science Police business?" he demanded.

"But _sir!_" Quav protested. "Gigi only told me after I'd asked her and I haven't told anyone else-"

"_Did I tell you you could speak, Officer Skada?_"

Quav snapped to attention.

"No, _sir!_"

"Keep your mouth shut, Skada!"

"_Yes_, sir!"

He turned back to Esquivel.

"Haven't you taught your junior officers any respect, Sergeant?"

"I have, sir," she said stiffly, staring at a point fixed somewhere next to his ear. "It would seem they've forgotten. I'll sort it out immediately, sir."

"Good," Chief Norg said gruffly.

"May I say something though, sir?"

"You may, Sergeant."

"I believe my officers, sir. Cusimano and Skada might have ties to Gim Allon but they wouldn't betray the Science Police. Sir."

The Chief scowled at them all, then _hmph_ed.

"That may be the case, Sergeant, but I don't want either of them in a position to cause any trouble. Put them to teaching the new recruits the patrol patterns for a week- then we'll talk again."

"Yes, sir."

Sergeant Esquivel turned on her heel and ushered the two officers out.

* * *

><p>Once the door had closed, Lon Norg dropped his face into his hands.<p>

He'd spent years in the force, restoring its shattered reputation and shoddy public image. The Science Police had been a joke for decades, and then suddenly a major crime wave hit and the Science Police weren't a joke anymore- they were a liability.

He'd only been an Officer for a year, then, but so many people were killed in the next six months that he'd become a Captain almost overnight; and then risen to Commander of Science Police Operations by the end of his second year.

It had been unprecedented- and could have easily been a disaster.

_But I had a vision,_ he thought to himself. _A vision of a city that was mostly crime-free, where my baby boy could grow up and walk the streets safely. And then the day of his fifth birthday I became Police Chief, because I'd mostly succeeded._

Gone were the days of accepted laxness- every day in the NMSPD was full of work and stuffed to bursting with productivity. The Science Police had a lot to make up for –not just in New Metropolis, but the UP over- and he was going to make sure they did it in record time.

People were being sent from other Departments, other _planets_, even, to learn how he ran things. It was a little flattering, but sometimes it was a little too distracting.

He sighed and hit the intercom button again.

"Deputy Zendak!"

He heard footsteps in the hallway before he'd even finished speaking, and Deputy Chief of Police Zoltorus Zendak entered his office barely a second after the call had ended.

He took one look at Chief Norg and shut the door tightly.

"You got here fast, Tor," he said, wishing he could get the irritation out of his voice.

"I heard you yelling for the others, Lon," Zendak said, sitting down in the sole armchair in the room. "_Everyone_ did. You know they call you 'Old Ironlungs' down in the canteen."

"I'm not old," he grumbled.

"You look like it, the way you work yourself," Zendak told him, a little sternly. "You should take more time off- see Lyle and Ryna more."

"And leave all of you without me?"

Zendak looked at him sharply. "We can manage fine by ourselves."

Lon sighed and looked out his window.

"Did you read the news yet today?"

"Of course."

"Someone leaked the story!" Chief Norg thumped his fist on his desk. "I spent a lot of time making sure the media wouldn't find out about that, but they managed to ferret it out _anyway!_ These- _Legionnaires_ are eroding our reputation!"

The two men were silent for a moment.

"You've been thinking about before again, haven't you?" Zendak asked.

Lon sighed again.

"How did it get so bad so fast?"

"The leader of the Dark Circle died of old age instead of being killed for his position. There was no clear leader, and the smaller organizations and gangs took advantage of the opportunity to work without having to be held accountable to the Dark Conqueror and started running rampant. The Circle still hasn't found a new leader yet, so the crime wave continues."

"Rhetorical question, Tor."

"Thought you needed reminding it wasn't anything you did, Lon. Sometimes these things happen, and you just have to ride it out."

Chief Norg rubbed his temples.

"Is there anything we can start working on publically to counteract- _this?_" he asked, gesturing to the report. "It was bad enough with the theft at the museum earlier this year; and now we have_ this_ fiasco to deal with! And we haven't even found the three rings stolen in the blue cloud heist! We _need_ good press!"

Zendak settled further into the cushions of his chair and thought.

"There's some nuisance criminal who seems to enjoy holding up locally-owned stores. He hasn't caused much trouble- calls himself Echo."

"Get on that. Who has experience?"

"One of those exchange officers- Dist Vetok. Aprospoli sent him over a week or two ago. The Moon Colony's been having a little problem lately and decided that 'the Norg Program' could help them out. He was there for Echo's first hold-up."

Chief Norg looked at him.

"They're not _really_ calling it 'the Norg Program', are they?"

Zendak just smiled.

"Oh, Lord," Lon muttered.

"You should be flattered," the Deputy told him, standing. "I'll have Sergeant Ishkindru take Vetok out on patrol to see if they can find Echo."

"Thanks, Tor," the Chief said. "And send Commander S'k'den in. I want to talk about this leak we've got."

* * *

><p>Tyroc frowned at Dream Girl, walking alongside him on a busy main street of New Metropolis.<p>

"What are you planning?" he asked suspiciously.

"Planning?" she asked, tone innocent. "What do you mean? Why should _I_ be planning something?"

"Because you took us, personally, out of Legion HQ, in plain clothes, right after breakfast," Sun Boy said from behind them. "You saw something last night. What was it?"

Nura walked along in silence for a few moments, the city bustling around her.

Then she sighed.

"I suppose you were all going to catch on_ some_ time."

"What was it, Nura?" Sun Boy asked again.

They reached a small café with an outdoor seating area.

"We'll stop here," Nura said, then turned and smiled at the boys brightly. "You two are up for lunch, right?"

* * *

><p>Sergeant Ishkindru gripped the steering controls for the patrol vehicle she was driving and tried to concentrate on something other than how much she disliked Officer Vetok.<p>

Unfortunately, it wasn't working. Patrol vehicles were not by nature large, and Vetok had a loud voice.

"-so _then_ I was all alone, running down the alley after the _bastard_ who shot my partner's knee up. The guy –he was _huge_, you should've seen him- turns and sees me coming, stops, smirks, the whole 'I'm a big fish, you're a little fish' deal. We exchange some witty repartee- well, _mine _was witty;_ his_ was only _passably_ clever. And _then-_"

Did he _never_ shut up about himself?

_Why _did she have to be stuck with him, anyway? Everyone at HQ knew that the exchange officers were the worst- Chief Norg gave it to you as a sort of punishment duty. But she'd gone over and over her _entire_ seven years on the force, and couldn't think of a _single_ thing that merited this.

"-he takes a wild swing at me, 'cause now I've got him scared, and he'd be _running_ for his_ life_ he hadn't backed his _stupid_ self up against the wall. But I see it coming _way_ before it hits me, and I duck, come up under his arm, and hit him right in the-"

Sergeant Ishkindru took the opportunity offered by a sudden break in traffic to make a sharp, wrenching turn at an intersection. Officer Vetok was thrown against his safety harness, all the air forced out of his lungs.

He glared at the Sergeant.

"_Ow!_"

"Ow,_ ma'am_," Ishkindru corrected him, happy that her 'partner' had finally shut up. She landed the patrol car carefully in a mostly-unused parking lot and opened the hatch.

"Time to get out, Officer Vetok. We're going on _street _patrol now."

* * *

><p>Tyroc poked at the last of his food on the plate in front of him and sighed.<p>

It hadn't been a boring day, as such. Nura was a good conversationalist, and Dirk had a well-honed sense of humor that never devolved into making crude jokes.

But by now he was used to doing more- getting a call for help, doing a little combat training with Colossal Boy, playing cards with Element Lad and Mr. Latham, enjoying a little along time for an hour or two minding the phone, maybe joining Triplicate Girl for a movie. So far, all he'd done was walk around and talk about the scenery.

He noticed Nura sitting with her elbow propped on the arm of her chair, chin in her hand, staring across the street at the storefront of a small grocer's.

"Get ready," she said distantly, not even glancing at him.

And then the front windows of the store across the street blew out, accompanied by a sound that could only be described as the air screaming, as if it were being torn apart, atom by atom.

Sun Boy stood up immediately, joined by most of the other diners.

"So this was it, huh?" he asked, using the seat of his chair as a stool to scramble across the top of the table and vault over the wrought-iron railing that separated the dining area from the sidewalk. He was halfway across the street before Tyroc had gotten to the gate, followed closely by Dream Girl.

There was a distant yell of "Hey, you!" and then Sun Boy threw himself back through the window and curled up protectively as the rest of the glass stuck to the edges of the frame shook loose and came hurtling down.

Tyroc stopped and screamed with what air he still had in his lungs. It was short, but it meant that his teammate was hit with pattering sand instead of razor-sharp glass shards.

"Get ready to keep doing that," Dream Girl said, starting to pull ahead of him. "The guy inside has sound powers, too."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you brought me," he muttered, trying to keep his breath. "I was going to be _useful._"

She smiled at him for a moment. "No, I really do like having you around, Troy."

Then she ducked into the building.

Tyroc pulled Sun Boy up and dove after her.

* * *

><p><em>Where in the name of Shamash did Officer Vetok get to?<em> Sergeant Ishkindru thought irately, trying to sneak up behind the man standing in the middle of the fruit section of the grocer's_._ She put her back up against the wall behind the door to the deli counter and took a deep breath._ And _what _is this 'Echo' person _wearing_? Where did you _buy_ a grey form-fitting suit with black rings on it, anyway?_

He looked _ridiculous_.

And some kid had run in to see what was going on, and this silly-looking man had probably killed him with that window glass. And the guy was probably going to kill the few other shoppers still trapped in the aisles, just because he could!

Suddenly, the air turned hot and the fire alarms started to blare. The sprinkler system came on, pelting Sergeant Ishkindru with cold spray.

There was a screech and the sound of metal tearing. The noise of the sprinklers from the main store quieted some.

_And _now_ he's killing the sprinklers! Is he _trying_ to destroy the whole place?_

The next sound was much more familiar- the dull thump of a foot hitting flesh.

Ishkindru's imagination immediately seized on an image formed from the various domestic disputes she'd been called to over the years.

_He's beating the shoppers!_

Cold, dripping wet, flooded with adrenaline –and, above all angry- the Sergeant decided she'd waited long enough. She pushed herself out into the doorway, gun trained over the meat counter down into the fruit section.

"_Freeze!_" she shouted.

Someone came hurtling over the counter and pushed her to the floor.

* * *

><p>A moment before, Dream Girl had seen what the Sergeant was going to do, and had also seen how Echo was going to react. She reached the counter just as the Sergeant entered the doorway, and just as they hit the ground, the heavy lights above the counter shook violent and came off their moorings, crashing to the floor and spitting sparks everywhere. One of the electric ovens on the wall short-circuited.<p>

The Legionnaire quickly pushed herself back to her feet and bounded back towards Echo, the Sergeant saved.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy lost his balance as the building shook with vibrations so low that they were felt in bones instead of by ears. He fell over sideways and managed to catch the side of a checkout counter before he smacked his head.<p>

As it was, he still jerked his neck muscles badly. He let himself hang from the counter for a moment, waiting for his balance to come back some.

Dirk blinked and stared at the man sitting beneath the register. It took a moment for his brain to process the uniform he was wearing.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked Officer Vetok.

The Officer stared back at him, silent.

Sun Boy's ears stopped ringing and he pulled himself back up and into the battle.

* * *

><p>Tyroc had tried to counter Echo's powers with his own, but they seemed to work in different ways. He could make noises at a vast range of frequencies powerful enough to stress objects until they cracked or shattered, as well a set of other, less visually impressive powers.<p>

This Echo person, though- Tyroc could counter the noise he made well enough by screaming, but the vibrations and the destruction that came along with it continued no matter what he did.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Sci-Pol Dream Girl had knocked down stand back up and train her gun on the robber. She fired twice, the first energy pulse hitting Echo in the back, the second zinging through the space he'd previously occupied to head straight for Tyroc.

The Legionnaire threw himself to the ground just in time to feel the floor shake alarmingly. He tried to get to his feet, but the ground kept trembling and it was hard to stay balanced.

Dream Girl, who had recently been busy evacuating the shoppers while Echo was distracted, streaked by and grabbed him around the chest, dragging him along until he managed to stand. He leaned up against an outside wall next to Sun Boy, sitting tiredly on the sidewalk, keeping an eye on the evacuated shoppers.

There was a click and the Legionnaires looked up.

* * *

><p>Dream Girl ran back into the building one last time as the grocer's started to shake itself part. She looked around the room and grabbed Sergeant Ishkindru, who had been hit on the head by a piece of falling ceiling while trying to get out.<p>

A large chunk of plaster fell off and shattered next to her. Dream Girl hauled the Sergeant towards the door.

The area over the meat counter collapsed.

In a flash of precognition, Nura saw there was less time left than she'd hoped for.

In one movement she knelt, dragged the Sergeant up until she was draped over her shoulders, and threw herself at the now-empty window frame.

They cleared the building just as the last of the structure collapsed in a cloud of dust and debris. Dream Girl tried to keep from rolling when she hit the ground, despite the damage she knew it would cause her body, so she wouldn't land on the Sergeant.

She slid a few feet through the scree and newly-formed gravel, feeling scrapes opening on her exposed skin.

The two of them came to rest in a mostly-clear area of the street.

After a second, there was applause.

Dream Girl looked up into the eye of a rolling news camera.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl came back to Legion HQ and collapsed on the couch, head hanging, and heaved a large sigh.<p>

Blok, sitting at a table much too small from him, looked up from the explanatory diagram Sun Boy was using to illustrate the proper movement of game pieces.

"Phantom Girl?" he rumbled.

"It was that_ guy_ again," she groaned, not looking up.

"Ah."

He turned back to the diagram, but Sun Boy was still paying attention to Phantom Girl.

"Couldn't you just _catch _the guy already?"

Tinya glared at him.

"_You _had the first battle! _You're_ the one who let him get away! It's been _weeks _and he's _still _popping up!"

"It hasn't been _weeks!_"

"A week-and-a-half, then! It's _been too long!_"

* * *

><p>Sergeant Ishkindru glared at Officer Vetok surreptitiously, distinctly unhappy about her current lot in life.<p>

From behind the massive office desk, Chief Norg subjected the two of them to his own glare.

"Why."

Officer Vetok looked at him.

"Why?"

"What on _Earth _have you been doing, Officer Vetok?" Chief Norg demanded. "Why is this- Echo character _still around?_"

"He's…_slippery_, sir!" Officer Vetok protested. "He robs a place, we show up, and then he gets away!"

The sergeant resisted the urge to slide discreetly away from the exchange officer. Chief Norg's word was law, and his expectations irrefutable orders.

The Chief's fist came down hard on the desk as he stood and leaned forward towards the man.

"There is _no excuse_ for letting a criminal go!" he roared. "We are here to do a _job,_ Officer Vetok, and to do it well! We _must_ be competent and make _absolutely sure_ that the public knows this to keep their faith in _us_ and this institution-"

Ishkindru discreetly tuned out the rest of the reprimand, having heard many similar speeches during her time as an officer.

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl scowled.<p>

"Should've known it was you two."

Sergeant Ishkindru almost longed for the time a few hours ago when she'd been standing in Chief Norg's office, listening to Officer Vetok getting chewed out. They'd failed to capture Echo –again- and she wasn't looking forward to the results.

"What, you think you're so _good?_" Vetok demanded hotly. "You and this _'Legion'_ haven't done any better than us-"

Ishkindru put a hand on his shoulder and forced him around.

"Officer Vetok, we make it a rule not to waste time arguing with children."

She ignored the glare Triplicate Girl subjected her to.

"Go make sure there isn't anyone left in the building and sweep for Echo again. We're probably going to go back to HQ empty-handed, but we can at least make sure that we gave a good showing before we get yelled at again."

* * *

><p>Chief Norg looked up from his hands.<p>

No, he hadn't imagined it. Someone was knocking softly on his door.

He pressed the release button on his desk and it slid open to reveal a slightly-dumpy blonde woman, who took a few steps into his officer before stopping in the center of the room.

"I'm Inspector Sybelle Deacon, sir. Commander S'k'den sent me about the leak."

Lon gestured to the empty chair reserved for visitors.

"So the Investigative Department finally found something?"

Inspector Deacon stayed standing.

"In a manner of speaking, sir?"

"What do you_ mean_, Inspector?" Chief Norg asked wearily. "I'm getting a headache and I'm in no mood to try and decipher things people tell me."

"Sir, the Daily Galaxy ran the news about the Lantern rings the day after they were originally stolen. But they didn't receive the information as a last-minute bit of news- they had gotten the story the day of the thefts, very shortly after the officers on the case returned to HQ."

Chief Norg tried to massage his growing headache away, but it didn't work.

"Your _point_, Inspector?"

"Someone didn't take offense to the fact that you ordered a PR silence on this case and report it out of spite or a sense of honor, sir. Someone told the press this story because- well, just because it would cause trouble, as far as we can tell."

"Informants get paid-"

"Not this one, sir. I personally spoke to Obrieon Messer, the Editor-in-Chief, and he says that the informant stayed anonymous, and that the Daily Galaxy has paid no one besides their own writers for that story. Someone spread this story to make us look bad."

* * *

><p>"Hey! <em>Hey!"<em>

Garth, on patrol with Jan, looked over at his partner.

"You think that's us?"

"Hey! Legionnaires!"

The two boys stopped and turned, finding themselves flagged down by a man in a lab coat.

The man slowed to a trot and took a few deep breaths.

"What can we help you with?" Element Lad asked politely.

"Well, it's not me, personally, per se, it's me and the other people I work with, and everyone in the building, really, but I suppose it could potentially cause me personally quite a bit of harm-"

"Sir?"

The man sighed and beckoned them nervously back up the sidewalk a few meters and into the deeply-recessed doorway of a building.

"You see, we've had a bomb threat."

* * *

><p>Gigi Cusimano sighed.<p>

Quav looked over at her curiously, lunch in hand.

"That was an awfully big sigh for your afternoon break."

"Chief Norg keeps breathing down my back about this whole Echo thing," she said, drooping in her seat. "And the Daily Galaxy reporters are all over it since nobody's managed to catch the guy yet. Chief Norg wanted to get good press or stay out of the news; but instead he just keeps getting more bad coverage. And then he gets madder and more suspicious and suddenly I'm under suspicion for passing on information or something."

"He's been on me, too," Quav told her, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Sounds like you're getting the worse of it, though."

"The thing is, I would call Gim if I thought I could risk it, to tell him how much the reporters are into this. Make sure he knows that the stakes are between a severe blow to a reputation and great coverage. But I don't dare actually contact him in case Chief Norg finds out. I'm afraid he might fire me."

There was a loud, raucous laugh from across the room. Gigi and Quav both looked over to see Officer Vetok in a loud conversation with a table or two of other officers.

"You can tell he's new," Quav grumbled. "Listen to that- he's talking about how great he was and giving away details of the outing, too. Hasn't learned any discretion at _all._"

The two officers continued their lunch in silence, Quav making good headway on his sandwich and then the snacks he'd packed, while Gigi spent more time poking at the food she'd bought than eating it.

The door opening made them look up momentarily. Sergeant Ishkindru stood there.

"Vetok!" she called. The noise in the room quieted slightly.

"_Vetok!"_ she called again. "Echo's been sighted!"

The other officer stood and ran out of the room, and Gigi wondered if she'd been the only person to see the swift, sudden flash of alarm on Vetok's face when Ishkindru had mentioned Echo.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl looked up as Jan and Garth entered the room.<p>

"Anything exciting happen on patrol?"

"We got a bomb threat," Element Lad told her.

Sun Boy jerked around.

"Someone threatened to _bomb _us?"

"Not _us_," Lightning Lad clarified. "Some scientific developing company. We got pulled off the street by one of the department heads there to give the building a go-over and get a tour. Didn't find anything."

"Though we still have research to do on the matter," Jan reminded him.

Garth looked pained. "Research?"

"I will help you, Element Lad," Blok rumbled."I f Lighting Lad does not wish to go through lists of people."

"_Thank you_," Garth said sincerely.

* * *

><p>Inspector Deacon flipped through the old reports she'd pulled out, trying to see if she could spot anything of importance; any clue as to who the leak might be.<p>

Her eyes skimmed over a sentence, then skipped back and read it again.

_'-where Officer Vetok is concerned. He has a history of being in the right place at the right time and pulling spectacular saves (sometimes too spectacular); but also has a strikingly different history of notably failing to catch criminals, often acting 'lazy' or 'indifferent' during these situations and later when being questioned about them.'_

Well now._ That _was interesting.


	11. Repercussions, Pt 2

**Chapter 9b**

"**Repercussions, Part 2"**

* * *

><p>"Excuse me," Blok rumbled.<p>

Saturn Girl looked up from her chair.

"Yes, Blok?"

"Element Lad and I have come up with a list of workers at the company with the bomb threat who could have the means to carry out such a threat."

"Oh, good."

She stood and took the list from him, looking it over.

"Gim and I will get this, Blok. Tell Jan thank you for me, will you?"

* * *

><p>"This is more than a little embarrassing," Sergeant Ishkindru muttered, standing with her arms crossed in front of the two-way mirror that served as part of the wall into the interrogation rooms at the New Metropolis Science Police Headquarters.<p>

"Really?" Captain Romundi asked, hands in her pockets.

The Sergeant glanced over at her.

"It was _supposed_ to be me and that exchange officer who caught this guy," she said, gesturing to the inside of the room. Echo was seated in a chair, hand secured into power-dampers; officers standing at the ready in case he tried anything. An interrogator sat in the other chair, listening to the 'supervillain' talk. "But instead it was some officers who were off-duty!"

"Yeah, the news will be all over that," Captain Romundi said offhandedly. "They like that sort of thing."

"I'm going to get yelled at again," Ishkindru said, face hidden in a hand.

"It happens to us all."

"I wish it didn't."

The two women were silent for a little bit, listening to Echo talk.

"Hello there."

Romundi jumped. "Wha- oh, it's you."

Inspector Deacon stood next to the door, files in hand.

"Sergeant, Captain," she said, inclining her head once. "How is the interrogation coming?"

Romundi shrugged.

"Nothing interest- _what was that he just said?_"

"That makes no sense at all," Sergeant Esquivel said. "He's_ got_ to be lying."

"He only makes loud noises?" Inspector Deacon said to herself. "Interesting…"

She looked down the hallway, eyes a little unfocused.

"I'll be seeing you around, Captain Romundi. Very soon, I think. Sergeant Esquivel- where _is _that exchange officer of yours?"

* * *

><p>"Well, <em>that <em>wasn't very productive," Gim said, trying to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. "You sure you got nothing from anyone on that list?"

Imra rubbed her temples.

"Nothing. And I have a headache. I think someone is just trying to make trouble."

She looked around.

"Do you remember how to get out of here? I don't want to have to deal with that receptionist again- he looked us like we were gutter trash."

Colossal Boy looked at her oddly.

"'Gutter trash'?"

"His thoughts, not mine."

He looked around.

"Hey, there's a janitor. We can ask him."

They started walking towards him. The man saw them coming and leaned up against the cleaning drone he was directing.

"You kids lost?"

"Um- a bit," Gim admitted sheepishly. "Is there some way out near here, Mr.-"

The janitor smiled kindly at him. "Fenton Pike."

"Somewhere that's not the front entrance?" Saturn Girl asked tiredly.

"Did the receptionist give you a hard time?" Fenton asked conversationally, then continued without waiting for an answer. "There's some maintenance stairs at the end of the hall. Go all the way down and out the door. There's a hallway, and the fifth door on your left will put you out behind the building."

"Thanks, Mr. Pike," Gim called, starting for the stairs.

"You kids be careful! It's getting dark out there!"

"We'll be fine, Mr. Pike!"

* * *

><p>The late afternoon downtown crowds looked up as the patrol vehicles raced down the skylanes and started to land on the street, sirens blaring.<p>

Inspector Deacon stepped lightly out of the lead vehicle, followed closely by a kitted-out Captain Romundi and Sergeant Esquivel.

Down the road, one of a pair of officers on patrol turned and ran.

Sergeant Esquivel raised a hand and touched her earpiece.

"This is why I brought you two along. Do something to get you a commendation by Chief Norg instead of another lecture."

"_Shouldn't we be aiming for an apology?"_

"Don't try and be funny, Skada. You and Cusimano get going."

She cut the transmission and ran off after the Inspector and the Captain.

* * *

><p>Farther down the street, Gigi and Quav burst out of an alley and started after Officer Vetok, only a yard or so ahead. Gigi judged the distance and launched herself into a flying tackle, forcing him to the ground.<p>

"Dist Vetok, you are being arrested for criminal conspiracy with the petty criminal known as 'Echo' and various others," Quav said as Gigi reached for her restraints. A small crowd started to gather. "You are also under arrest for the actions of one person commonly known as 'Vibrex' in Asprospoli, who is an alter ego of yourself; and therefore leading to additional charges of fraud-"

Gigi yelled out as Vetok grabbed her and tried to push her away. Quav could feel the ground under him start moving alarmingly. A few of the people gathered started to back off. There was a seconds-long struggle as Gigi tried not to move and Vetok tried to use his powers to force him to let go- and then she punched him in the face.

Their superior officers arrived just as Quav and Gigi managed to haul the unconscious Vetok into something resembling a standing position.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen. The city, always busy, had quieted down some, the lights dim compared to the glare at midday.<p>

And then the sky over Downtown lit up with a bright flash, followed closely by a loud, muffled _thwump_. Alarms, tripped by the shockwave, went off across the city.

* * *

><p>Lon, nerves sensitive to<em> everything<em> from his years of policing, sat up suddenly, body running on automatic. He only really awoke when he banged into the edge of a shelf while fumbling around in the dark for his uniform.

There was a shifting sound from the bed as he bit back a yell. The nightstand lamp came on, revealing his wife, Ryna.

"Going back to the station early again, Lon?" she asked, then looked at the clock. "It's barely past midnight!"

"Something blew up," he muttered, putting his pants on. "See?"

She looked out the window. Smoke was rising over the city, dimly lit by the late-night lights.

Ryna sighed.

"If you must, then."

Lon managed to open the door and put one arm into his jacket at the same time.

"Dad?"

"Go back to bed, Lyle," he said, glancing at his son.

"But there was a boom-"

"Go back to bed and stay in the house!"

* * *

><p>Lon strode into the disaster zone ten minutes later.<p>

"_How did this happen?_" he demanded, glaring at the first officer he saw.

"It was a _bomb,_ genius."

It took him a moment of infuriated thought to realize that the terrified officer in front him hadn't spoken.

He spun to face the Legionnaires.

* * *

><p><em>:GARTH! Just because you haven't woken up properly yet doesn't mean you get to be rude!:<em>

_Like I care_, he thought angrily, kicking at a bit of rubble.

_:You _should_!:_

Chief Norg stared at them for a moment, mouth working silently. Then something lined up in his mind.

"_YOU! _What are _you _doing here?"

"Uh, our _job?_" Phantom Girl said testily.

"_My_ job, you mean!" he roared. "How _dare_ you come in here like, like-"

"Like _what?_" Lightning Lad challenged.

* * *

><p>Tyroc caught movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced to the side.<p>

"We're being watched," he muttered to Sun Boy.

"Hm?" the other grunted sleepily.

"There. The reporters. With the cameras."

"They're everywhere lately, aren't they?" Dream Girl asked.

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy turned and started towards the rescue teams, having had enough of Chief Norg's angry tirade.<p>

"Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" the Police Chief spat, grabbing his arm.

Gim froze and stared at the man, nearly the same height, with wide eyes.

Chief Norg seemed to realize who it was he'd caught.

"You-"

_:He's tired and angry and frustrated and worried, Gim. He wants someone to blame. Be careful.:_ Saturn Girl warned him.

"Sir, I'm going to go help the rescue workers," Gim said nervously, trying to pry himself away gently.

Chief Norg gripped tighter.

"You were my junior officer, Allon! Mine! And you just walked away- straight into this Legion farce! Does respectability mean nothing to you?"

"Hey!" Triplicate Girl said indignantly.

"What about loyalty?" Norg demanded. "Honor? Common decency? Or did you leave all your moral fiber behind with your badge?"

Gim flinched and the Chief shook him a little.

Saturn Girl tried to get between them.

"Chief Norg-"

"_You_ never even reported for duty!" Lon yelled. "I should have known better than to expect you to show up when they told me I was getting a Titanian cadet!"

* * *

><p>Deputy Chief Zendak strode towards his old friend, determined to break up the mounting situation before it could turn into even more of a disaster than it already was- but hating the news he had to bring.<p>

"Lon!"

"Go away, Tor," the Chief said through clenched teeth.

Zendak grabbed his friend's shoulder and hauled him around.

"Lon!"

He grabbed the Chief's arm before he could try anything.

_"What?"_ Chief Norg demanded.

"I just got news of another bomb threat- in NMSPD HQ."

* * *

><p>"Where did we go wrong?" Element Lad asked quietly, staring in horror at the decimated building.<p>

_:It's not your fault, Jan.: _Imra told him. Her mental voice sounded a bit shaken. :_ And there was barely anyone here- just a couple interns and a few of the maintenance staff-:_

Jan's eyes widened.

_No! That's where! That list was only of the research staff- no one else!_

There was no reply for a moment.

_:We need a computer.:_

* * *

><p>Gigi stared incredulously at the news, playing out on the NMSPD HQ canteen to the eyes and ears of every officer in the building.<p>

"I can't believe it," she said to no one in particular. "The one time we're on night shift duty at HQ and there's a bombing in the city."

She turned to Quav.

"What, did you say something?"

"I said," her friend said loudly so he could be heard of the din that had consumed Headquarters for the last two shift changes. "That I still can't decide which is more surprising- the fact that Vetok was really a criminal or the fact that he sold us out to the press."

"He didn't take any money, so he didn't really sell us out to anyone."

"The principle still stands though."

Now Quav looked at her, confused.

"What did you say?" he asked raising his voice again.

"People need to quiet down in here," Gigi muttered to herself.

* * *

><p>Two floors away, the communications panel blinked, unnoticed and untended.<p>

* * *

><p>"What do you<em> mean,<em> you can't get anyone?" Lon demanded.

Zendak had forcibly moved the conversation behind a large piece of fallen building, out of the eyes of the press.

"There's no one at the switchboard!" he said, frustrated. "No one's picking up!"

Chief Norg stared off in the direction of NMSPD HQ for a moment.

"Damn the switchboard operators- let's go!"

* * *

><p>"That would be <em>way <em>too convenient."

"He has motive, Colossal Boy," Cos said. "It works."

"What the odds, though?"

"Not a lot?" Sun Boy suggested.

"I can't_ believe _I missed that," Saturn Girl said, head in her hands.

Garth patted her awkwardly.

"You were tired, you said. It's okay. Now let's go get the guy."

* * *

><p>The news was still on in NMSPD HQ.<p>

'_Wait- breaking news,'_ the anchor said. _'We've just been informed that there has been, in fact, a second bomb threat.'_

The room went silent.

'_Apparently, the mystery bomber left a note at the first site, citing the precise time and place of another explosion- 1:25 AM, at New Metropolis Science Police Headquarters.'_

There was another moment of breathless silence, and then the room erupted into noise again.

Gigi jumped up and started to force her way towards the door, dragging Quav with her.

"We've got four minutes to get down twelve stories-let's move!"

Quav gained his footing and started to run on his own power.

"We won't make it, Gigi. It takes nearly two minutes just to get to the stairs."

Gigi kept staring fixedly ahead, expression grim.

"We have to try."

* * *

><p>"Y'know, Saturn Girl was <em>really<em> hoping it wasn't you."

The man in the basement of the building across the street whirled in surprise to face the girl coming through the wall; then turned for the door.

The stairs creaked alarmingly and suddenly the door was filled with a wall of rock.

"Hey! Why'd you stop?"

"The doorway is too small."

"Oh, for goodness's sake- break the doorframe!"

"That's destruction of property. Shouldn't we _not_ do that?"

There was some scuffling on the stairs as Sun Boy, Blok, Dream Girl, and Tyroc attempted to sort themselves out.

It dawned on the man in the basement that his only immediate problem was a young teenaged girl. He threw a punch.

Phantom Girl phased out with a sigh, then reached forward and grabbed him.

"Seriously? Now tell us about these bom-"

The man realized that she had to be existing completely in one dimension to be holding him and pushed her roughly to the ground, dashing for a back-alley entrance hatch.

Tinya got to her feet just in time to see the man's bottom half disappear up onto the street.

"Don't bother getting in here!" she called, heading for the short metal ladder. "He's up in the alley! Get back outside!"

* * *

><p>Colossal Boy ran after his faster teammates and saw the other people rounding the corner too late.<p>

Gigi slammed into his chest, falling backwards into Quav. Gim rocked on his feet and stared at them in surprise.

"What are you two still doing in here? There's bombs-"

"Yeah, we just found out, big guy!" Gigi snapped. "Now get out of the way!"

"Wait, you only just found out? How many more people are in here?"

"_Everyone!_ Now _move!_"

He stepped aside and let them pass.

_Imra?_ he thought in alarm. _Imra?_

_:Gim-:_

_There are still officers in here!_

_:I know- I've sent Jan back-:_

Gim caught sight of his teammate running back from the opposite direction.

"They'll be in the canteen- I'll be back in a minute!"

He turned and ran after Gigi and Quav.

* * *

><p>The man dashed around a corner and finally saw a main street. The Legionnaires attempting to get down the stairs had met him outside when he'd tried to get around to the front of the building, and since then he'd gotten badly turned around in the alleys of the city.<p>

He sped up, determined to hit the main streets and blend in better with whatever traffic there might be at this hour- probably head back to the research building and melt into the crowd.

Dream Girl stepped out into the mouth of the alley, just in front of him now, and socked him in the face.

He stumbled back, surprised at the force of the blow, and felt his ankles hit something. He fell backwards into the waiting arms of Blok, who lifted him off his feet.

Sun Boy smiled up at the man.

"Not too bad for some kids who only woke up an hour ago, huh?"

* * *

><p><em>:No more time, Legionnaires! We've got to get out of here!:<em>

Cos stopped in the middle of prying a bomb loose from the side of an air vent.

_We _can't _have gotten all of them-_

_:It doesn't matter!:_ Imra told him quickly_. :All the officers are out, and if we can't save the building, oh well! Jan's got a ramp set up to the roof across the road. Now get going!:_

* * *

><p>Someone grabbed Gigi from behind suddenly and she started to lose her balance.<p>

"Hey!"

Gim whirled her around and started dragging her and Qauv back towards the canteen.

"Wha- you _idiot!_ The stairs are _that _way! We've only got a _minute_ left and _you're_ going in the wrong _direction!_"

"I've got something better," he said.

_I hope._

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl slid carefully down to the street level on Jan's ramp from the roof and narrowly avoided knocking Lightning Lad off his feet.<p>

"Have we got everyone?" she asked urgently.

Garth looked around quickly.

"Cos Imra you me Tinya Sun Boy Ty _Dream Girl_ Blok- hey, where're Colossal Boy and Dawnstar?"

Lu wasn't paying attention. Something had _pinged_ in her mind.

"Oh Lord-" she said quietly.

"_Hey, guys!_ The building's about to go and there's _people everywhere in the street!_"

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy was standing in the middle of street, staring in blank-minded panic at the retrieved bombs about to go off.<p>

"Electromagnets!" Dream Girl shouted at him as she ran by to get some news reporters out of the way. "Lightning Lad, help Cosmic Boy! And no arguing about it just because I told you to!"

Garth ran over, lightning already flickering around his hands.

"She's got you down pretty well," Rokk told him, raising his hands and bringing the bombs up off the ground in a nimbus of magnetic energy.

The other boy raised his fists and lightning shot forward and started sizzling in the air as they twined with the nimbus and made it glow brightly.

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>Gigi grabbed Gim's arm as they stopped just sort of the hole in the wall twelve stories up.<p>

_:Get down _now!_:_ someone thundered in her mind. _:Twenty seconds!:_

Gim looked quickly over the edge, ignoring the ramp, and pushed Quav out into the open air. He screamed as he fell.

Gigi looked at him, stunned.

"What_ the-_"

He grabbed her and jumped.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl whirled to face the people near her.<p>

"Grab the person next to you and _don't let go!_"

* * *

><p>Chief Norg skidded around the corner just in time to see NMSPD HQ explode outwards.<p>

* * *

><p>Jan reacted immediately, flinging up his arms and changing the atomic structure of a wall of air large enough to protect half the street just as the shockwave, intense this close, washed over them.<p>

The wall of air shook violently and shattered, the high energy of the shockwave breaking the newly-formed structures, but by then the first danger had passed.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the street, Tyroc screamed as long and low as he could, the intensity of the soundwaves he was making straining even his vocal cords- but it blocked the worst of the shockwave.<p>

* * *

><p>Imra had her mind completely open to Dream Girl, who was standing with her eyes closed just behind the large waste crate Blok had pulled out of an alley to shield the people hiding behind it.<p>

_:NOW!:_ she ordered the Legionnaires just as Nura muttered the word to herself and let her knees give way.

* * *

><p>Sun Boy didn't even bother standing up- he just flung his arms towards the sky and started flaming the raining debris, lighting up the pre-dawn sky. He could hear the somewhat-strained screams of Tyroc off to one side, breaking up whatever rubble came towards him into tiny fragments barely more harmful than dust. Out of the corner of one eye he could see Element Lad dealing with most of the flying remnants of the building, changing them into oxygen and improving the nearby air quality before they had the chance to hit anything.<p>

* * *

><p>It seemed as though it had taken hours, but Tinya's internal clock said it had only been a minute and a half- barely that. She carefully phased herself and the people near her –who had thankfully followed her orders about not letting go- back into the proper set of dimensions and ran for the massive pile that was the remnants of most of NMSPD HQ- and that presumably had Colossal Boy somewhere underneath it.<p>

She dashed around the people starting to emerge from behind Blok's waste crate, just avoided tripping over Sun Boy, and arrived at the pile. She picked up a small piece of wall.

The whole pile shifted and bulged upward, and then Colossal Boy, fully grown, stood, raining debris everywhere.

Tinya phased out for a moment to let some of the rubble rain through her, then shifted back and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"HEY, GIM! YOU OKAY?"

"I'm fine!" he boomed. "You?"

She looked around.

"WE'RE ALL GOOD DOWN HERE!"

It was easy to see his smile. He took one large step and put his foot down clear of the pile. When he'd put both feet firmly on the ground he started to shrink.

Phantom Girl steadied Gigi as her feet hit the ground again. Dawnstar landed a few feet away, carefully making sure Quav had his balance before touching down completely.

Quav grabbed the Legionnaire's arm to steady himself, then stalked over to Gim.

"If you_ ever_ do something like that _again-!_"

Words seemed to fail him and he smacked his friend on the shoulder. Gim tried to rock slightly with the force of blow, yelped, and staggered sideways.

Gigi caught him and pulled his arm over her shoulder.

"Come on, big guy- let's sit you down somewhere and get that ankle checked out."

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl picked her way over to Imra and Dream Girl.<p>

"Everyone's really okay?" she asked.

Behind them, Lighting Lad sat up.

"I'm oka_ooow…_"

He lay back down.

Lu walked over.

"You're not getting up?" she asked Cosmic Boy.

"I know better than to move when my head feels like this," he said simply, eyes closed. "Did we keep the bombs contained?"

She looked over at the giant black scorch mark burned into the road.

"Looks like it."

"Good. Is everyone safe?"

Lu looked over at Imra questioningly. The telepath's eyes glowed pink for a moment; and then she broadcast to the whole area.

_:Everyone's fine. We're all fine.:_

* * *

><p>Farther down the road, Lon Norg ducked into an alley and leaned against the wall, hand over his mouth, eyes closed in relief.<p>

There was a touch on his shoulder and he looked over at Zendak.

"Let's go, Lon- there's a lot of cleaning up to do."

* * *

><p>Ryna Norg sat worriedly on the couch, one hand in her sleeping son's hair, the other clutching the couch arm nervously; watching the news on low volume. The early-morning sunlight was shining into her face, but she couldn't force herself to get up and change the window opacity.<p>

The news had been covering the explosions all night. She had been sitting in this exact spot when the news cameras showed NMSPD HQ destroy itself from within.

They still hadn't said who had been in the building.

The door clicked open and Ryna half-stood as she turned in her seat, rousing Lyle slightly.

"Lon!"

He looked utterly exhausted and was covered with dirt, but Ryna lost no time rounding the couch and hugging him tightly.

Lon reached around her and held her close, nose buried in her hair, eyes half open.

On the couch, Lyle sat up, blinked sleepily, and turned up the news. The broadcaster's voice filled the room clearly.

_'-s been revealed that the NMSPD did receive a copy of the first bomb threat, sent to them by the building's staff, but the report about the incident was apparently ignored by Chief of Police Lon Norg. We have this quote from one of the officers: 'Everyone at HQ was really wrapped up in this Echo case- Chief Norg wanted _our _people to solve it, _not_ the Legion'.'_

Lon's eyes flew completely open; and Ryna felt him stiffen under her arms.

_'It was, of course, revealed only sixteen hours ago that Science Police Officer Dist Vetok of Asprospoli was behind the Echo incidents- the man known publically as Echo provided the piercing noise witnesses have described while Officer Vetok used his orders from Chief Norg to 'catch the idiot who keeps holding up those grocery stores' to collaborate with his partner and supply the destructive vibrations that caused the collapse of at least one establishment.'_

The announcer paused for a moment and looked down at his desk; then back at the screen.

_'I've just received news regarding the identity of the mysterious bomber responsible for tonight's attacks. The man was Fenton Pike, a janitor at the first building destroyed today, which he apparently intended as a 'warning'; and a former Science Police Cadet who was refused a job by Chief Norg in New Metropolis for reasons that were, in Pike's words, 'completely unfounded'. Meanwhile, questions are being asked about Chief Norg's continued ability to work in New Metropolis due to his recent behavior regarding the Legion of Superheroes, the most recent incident of which we have footage-'_

Lon pushed himself away from Ryna and shut the news off before his family could see the recording of him grabbing Colossal Boy.

"I need a shower and then I'm going back to bed," he muttered.

Ryna watched him go, arms crossed across her chest as though she was cold.

She turned to the couch and her son.

"Promise me you'll never take up law enforcement?" she pleaded quietly; then smiled as she realized Lyle had fallen asleep sitting up. She walked over to the window and decreased the amount of light it let in, then left quietly for the bedroom to wait for her husband.


	12. Wild Hunt

**Chapter 10**

"**Wild Hunt"**

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad groaned and opened his strangely-heavy eyes to a gloomy darkness.<p>

The floor –why was he sleeping on the floor?- was hard and cold. The ceiling was bare and entirely the wrong color, at least as far as he could tell with his gloomy vision.

He tried to raise his hand and hold his aching head, but it was strangely heavy. He narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on his arm, but it wasn't working.

He had been… in the cruiser? Going somewhere? What _had_ he been doing? He couldn't remember.

There was a loud _shunk_ and Garth sat up quickly, head spinning.

Despite his state, he managed to make out a pair of eyes staring at him through a rectangular opening in the door of his cell before the head jerked back and the shutter slammed shut.

Garth closed his eyes to try and ease his headache and slid back into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Imra forced her way into consciousness through the haze of drugs that were trying to fog her waking mind.<p>

She focused her will and cut her way through the mist clogging her brain. Mere chemicals would not keep her from using her mind!

She came awake all at once, eyes snapping open, and sat up.

Saturn Girl looked around.

The small stone room was completely bare- no blankets or wall restraints, no sign of seams in the stone where the material was either mortared into place or cracked.

There was a strange weight on her right arm.

She looked down and saw a metal cuff, not very bulky but definitely not thin. There was a screen set into it, and a few lights, but besides that it was a uniform, featureless light gray. It didn't even shine.

Imra looked around again, then reached out with her mind for her teammates- and screamed.

When her mind had stopped feeling like someone had tuned into a frequency with nothing but static, she glared down at the cuff.

So that was the point- electrocution if you used your powers.

She looked around for a third time, more carefully. There had to be cameras _somewhere_.

There was the slight sound of static and Imra glanced at the cuff again. A man's face had come up on the screen and started to talk.

* * *

><p>"Hello, Legionnaires," the man said. "Welcome to Simballi. Don't be surprised if you've never heard of it- that's the idea. I'm Otto Orion, your gamesmaster for today."<p>

Gamesmaster?

"The rules are simple. One of you gets to the top of a hill marked on this map-"

Orion's face disappeared and was replaced with a projected 3-D map that held still for a moment before zooming in on the hill in question.

He kept talking.

"-and reaches this old idol-"

The map zoomed in again to show a tall statue on the peak of the hill.

"-and you all go free. If none of you get there, you all die."

Imra sucked in a breath. What?

Orion's face came back.

"These cuffs you're wearing monitor your power usage. If you try to use it to cheat, all the cuffs –everyone's, not just your own, blow up and you bleed to death. If you try to tamper with the cuff, it's same outcome. Oh, also- only one of you can get to the top of that hill. If more than one of you survives to that point, you have to fight it out."

Imra glared at the man. No. She was _not _doing this. She was_ not_ going to fight her friends.

"Additionally- this game is organized in rounds around checkpoints-your maps will lead you there. At least one person has to come out each round."

Orion smiled unpleasantly.

"And there's no way of telling if anyone has been knocked out of the game before you reach a checkpoint, so it's a good idea to attack anyone you come across. Have fun, and I hope you enjoy whatever stay you have on Simballi. Ready, set- _go._"

* * *

><p>The door to her cell opened with a swish and Imra ventured out. The door shut behind her.<p>

She straightened up and looked around. Simballi, wherever it was, was a wilderness paradise- tall trees, hanging vines, and undergrowth everywhere.

Tentatively, she reached out with her mind. When there was no electric zap, she went farther.

Garth- Rokk- Tinya- Luornu- Dirk- Gim- Troy- Nura- Jan-

_Wait- if I can hear everyone and we're supposed to be searching for each other…_

Dawnstar? Where was Dawnstar?

Imra turned her mind to the skies.

* * *

><p>Garth jumped at the second unexpected crack, but kept running towards the first checkpoint.<p>

_Dawnstar'll win this for us. She'll fly to the checkpoint, wait around- we'll be out of here in no time, _he thought to himself.

_But it's still not fair only she can fly._

* * *

><p>Dawnstar had immediately hunted for an area large enough for her to get up a running start. It had taken a bit too long, the cuff beeping insistently at her each time she got off the 'path' it had drawn across the map.<p>

She had wished she could bash it against a tree to make it stop, but she could take the risk after what Orion had said.

Eventually she'd found a suitable clearing and now she was soaring over the treetops towards the hill.

This was going to be too easy.

A crack rang out below her and something hit the base of her wing.

Dawnstar screamed and grabbed it, feeling the blood running between her fingers. There was something stuck in her wing.

There was a familiar, faint smell in the air. Smoke.

Smoke. Bang. _Gunpowder._

That _barbarian_ had hit her with a _bullet!_

There was another crack and an identical burning pain in her other wing. It crumpled and Dawnstar plummeted towards the tree canopy.

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy slowed and tried to figure out where this next 'checkpoint' was. He walked slowly around the area that seemed to match up with the map, and then his cuff started making one long noise.<p>

He sat down quickly and the noise stopped.

He didn't have to wait long for the others- Colossal Boy, then Tyroc, Tinya, and the others followed in quick succession.

Lighting Lad was last, and looked around in puzzlement between taking deep breaths.

"I was _sure _Dawnstar would've been here first…"

Everyone's cuffs blipped on at the same moment.

"You should say thank you, Legionnaires," Orion said, sounding eerie as his voice overlapped from ten different directions. "I took out the player for this round-"

"Dawnstar!" Sun Boy said quietly, horrified.

"-but it's up to you for the rest. And don't try to weasel out of eliminating the competition, or I'll have to do it myself- and you'll never find them again."

The transmission cut off and new glowing lines appeared on the maps.

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, and then ran off in different directions.

* * *

><p>Nura sighed and stopped moving.<p>

"It's okay, Blok. I know you're there- and I've already resigned myself to the situation. Just be careful. I'd like to have a head when I wake up."

She closed her eyes.

There was a rustle from the bushes, and something flicked the side of her head.

Blok caught her as she fell and laid her gently against a tree.

* * *

><p>Rokk ran blindly through the woods.<p>

_I can't purposefully attack them. I _can't_,_ part of him said.

_But if you don't know if the others will,_ another part said._ And if you have the opportunity, and you don't take it, and no one else did it, either, then that _maniac _who set this whole thing up is going to do it. You heard those cracks. That was him 'eliminating' Dawnstar. _

_How can I possibly face them if I do hurt them on purpose?_

_How can I possibly face them knowing I didn't take a chance on hurting them and left someone else to die?_

He growled wordlessly, frustrated, and put on a burst of speed.

And ran into something.

Rokk recovered after a moment and looked over to see what he'd hit.

It was Sun Boy.

They stared at each other for a moment, unmoving.

"What are you going to do?" Dirk asked warily.

Rokk stood.

"I don't know. I don't like either option…"

Dirk stared at him, silently waiting for the 'but'.

He held a hand out towards his teammate.

"…but I'd rather not have anyone die."

* * *

><p>Tyroc walked quickly through the forest, completely out of his element. He'd tripped already quite a few times, and was still cursing the trees.<p>

He watched all around him warily, nerves jumpy from the unfamiliar surroundings.

But it wasn't enough.

Something broadsided him- hard. He fell to the ground and thrashed, trying to throw his opponent off.

There was no one there.

Troy stood slowly, staring into the undergrowth.

This time it attacked from behind, and he took a bad blow to the back of the head. He fell again, ears ringing.

Getting up was harder, but Troy managed it. He swayed a bit, a little unsteady on his feet.

This time Phantom Girl came at him from the front.

She appeared out of a tree trunk and tackled him head on.

He fell backwards and cracked his skull against the ground.

One of her hands was at the base of his neck, the other pulled back past her head in a fist.

Tinya looked at him, eyes wide and pleading.

"Sorry," she said softly, and struck.

* * *

><p>The trees were on fire.<p>

Dirk backed up, desperately trying to control his flame in the face of his fear and Rokk's 'friendly' assault.

Cos held out his hands towards the fires and twisted with his mind. The fire wavered and twirled outward from the trees in long ribbons. The Legionnaire drew his hands closer together and the fire came off the leaves completely and promptly burned itself out.

"How did you do that?" Dirk asked incredulously, forgetting his terror for a moment.

Rokk was breathing heavily.

"It's- in your name. Sun Boy. Stars have- electromagnetic fields. Fire is a sort of- smaller sun. I control- magnetism."

He looked up at Dirk through his sweat-matted hair, tired from the intense heat and the strain of controlling the fire.

He held out a hand and the fires around Dirk's hands writhed and turned back on him. Dirk yelped, instinctively reacting to the danger, and immediately put them out.

Rokk straightened and held both hands out.

"Don't move," he pleaded. "I don't want to mess this up."

Dirk stared at him, eyes wide, as his whole body arched towards Rokk's outstretched hands.

"Wha-"

"Iron in your blood," Cos said through clenched teeth, voice strained. "_Please_- I don't want anyone to die."

He closed his eyes and prayed for a moment, then clenched his hands for a second.

All the blood in Dirk's body stopped flowing for an instant.

Immediately, Rokk opened his hands and hands and dropped his arms. Sun Boy crumpled to the ground.

Cosmic Boy ran over and dropped to his knees at the side of his friend, checking his pulse.

It was still there.

He took a deep, steadying breath; fought back the tears; and sat there for a moment before moving on.

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl jumped a few inches when the branch snapped.<p>

She whirled, dropping into a defensive position- but saw no one.

There was something under her foot.

She looked down and laughed unsteadily. It had been her.

Lu took a deep breath, still shaken, and turned around.

_:I'm _sorry_.:_

Lu could feel Imra's painful inner struggle. It swamped her mind and she started to fall.

Saturn Girl took over and made her lie down.

_:It's _absolutely_ not enough just to say that,:_ she continued, tone agonized. _:This is… _entirely _wrong in _every way_ imaginable. But- you'll be safer this way. You'll be out of it.:_

Her touch on Triplicate Girl's mind was gentle. She slid softly into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Garth strained to hear the approach of his teammates.<p>

Jan was already present, but everyone else was taking too long.

_What if they got attacked? _he worried. _What if somebody ambushed them? Rokk's pretty fit, sure, but what sort of experience does he have? Trips? I have no idea what she can do. Tinya's had problems. Imra- _

He backtracked. _NO. I'm not going there._

There was a commotion in the underbrush nearby. Garth stood quickly and strained to see through the plants.

Blok pushed his way through the tall ferns, followed closely by Tinya, phasing her way through the plants whipping back into place.

On the other side of the small clearing that was the second checkpoint, Rokk and Imra emerged, nearly side by side.

Garth looked around.

"Sun Boy? Triplicate Girl? Tyroc?"

Jan looked at him.

"You're not going to ask about Dream Girl?"

Garth ignored him and looked at Imra questioningly.

"I took Triplicate Girl," she said quietly.

Cosmic Boy looked at her, then turned his face towards the Legionnaires, not meeting their eyes.

"Sun Boy."

Garth stared at them, shocked, then sat down on a tree stump.

"Dream Girl," Blok rumbled.

"I got Troy," Phantom Girl admitted.

Garth squeezed his eyes shut and folded his hands together, pressing them to his face.

_Oh, please, Lord; no- it's actually _happening_. We're actually _attacking_ each other._

The cuffs started beeping again, and he only opened his eyes once he had heard everyone else move off.

* * *

><p>Rokk walked through the forest quietly, trying not to hate himself.<p>

He kept trying to tell himself it was necessary. Sometimes you had to do things that… weren't the best idea to keep worse things from happening.

Right?

He sighed and looked around before collapsing heavily onto a fallen tree trunk; trying to clear his mind.

Rokk's struggle with thoughtlessness was interrupted by a rustle of leaves nearby. He looked up and saw Garth trying to untangle himself from a bush.

The other Legionnaire looked up. Shock flicked across his face for a moment, and then his expression settled into something cold.

"What, not going to take the opportunity to jump me?" he asked nastily.

Rokk sighed.

"I'd really like not too."

"Oh, so you _are?_" Garth growled, trying to push the stubborn plant of his leg.

"It's the only way to make sure everyone stays mostly safe. The way this- 'game' is set up makes the only acceptable choice fighting anyone you come across."

"Acceptable?" Garth asked icily.

Rokk flinched.

"Not acceptable. The lesser of two evils."

"I don't_ believe_ in the 'the lesser of two evils'," Garth said angrily, finally yanking the bush off. He stood and looked squarely at his teammate.

"What are you going to do?"

Cosmic Boy looked at him, face drawn.

"That's what Sun Boy asked," he said quietly, raising his hand.

* * *

><p>It was easy to hear Blok coming.<p>

Jan turned to face the direction the noise was coming from and waited.

A moment later, Blok emerged from between two trees.

They looked at each other for a moment.

"I assure you, this will have no bearing on our future relations," Blok finally rumbled.

Jan smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate knowing that."

His smile took on a bit of an impish quality.

"So… may the best man win?"

Blok returned the smile.

"Not the best. Simply… one."

* * *

><p>Electricity and magnetism met in the air, crackling and sizzling. The two powers danced around each other, neither gaining any ground, neither losing any.<p>

"You took out Sun Boy and you can't handle this?" Garth scoffed. "I'm not even really _trying._"

"I don't think I am, either," Rokk said, and broke his connection. He dove to one side and let the lightning hit the ground behind him.

Garth let the intensity of his power grow, gathering around his fists in a tight, flickering sheet.

"What're you going to do? We're not in the middle of New Metropolis here, in case you hadn't noticed. No metal."

"I don't need metal."

"Oh yeah?"

He let the electricity go and sent it arcing towards his teammate.

Rokk held up his hands and concentrated hard. The lighting twisted in midair and grounded itself before it could reach him.

Lighting Lad stared at him.

"You can't _do_ that!"

"Yes I can," Cosmic Boy said. "Don't you remember? Electromagnetism? I can control your power, Garth. Just like I did Dirk's."

His eyes widened and he threw bolt after bolt of electricity at Cos.

Rokk walked forward, deflecting each bolt.

Garth growled and let loose with a large ball of electricity. When he could see again, Rokk was nowhere to be seen.

He stood there in a moment of stunned silence.

_I didn't _really_ just do that? I didn't- Rokk's not _really_-_

The leaves above him rustled and Garth dove to the side. Rokk landed where he'd been a moment before.

"How did you get up there?" he demanded.

Rokk stood and held his arms at his sides, palms pointed down. He rose into the air.

"No. Way. You can fly, _too?_! It's bad enough that _Dawnstar _can, but at least _she's_ got _wings!_ This is _totally_ unfair! _I_ should be able to fly!"

He scrambled away as Rokk started towards him.

"How are you _doing_ that, anyway?"

"Planetary magnetic field. Same charges repel."

"This is still totally unfair," Garth grumbled, trying to get some cover in the undergrowth.

Rokk reached out a hand and yanked his friend into the air.

"Happy now?"

"_You _wish_!_" Garth yelled, and let loose with everything he had, making the air boom.

* * *

><p>A minute later, Cos was trying to find someplace safe to put his unconscious friend.<p>

* * *

><p>Tinya and Imra were waiting at the third checkpoint. Cos staggered in, followed closely by Jan.<p>

Rokk managed to control his fall to the ground.

"I got Garth."

"Blok," Jan said.

"You're doing well, Legionnaires," Orion said suddenly. No one bothered to look at their cuffs. "Very well. The next checkpoint is the bottom of the hill- but don't put it off too long. It will be sunset in two or three hours!"

The last four Legionnaires looked at each other, then walked away.

* * *

><p>Tinya phased easily through the trees, cursing the power-monitoring cuff. She'd tried to phase all the way out of this set of dimensions- the cuff wasn't made of transdimensional material, and she should have been able to phase right back and have been free.<p>

But somehow, the stupid thing had realized what she was doing and zapped her before she could completely phase out.

Of all the things- why had Orion decided to do this? Why had he kidnapped them and forced them into doing this? How had he done this?

Her temper, mostly suppressed until now, finally broke.

Orion thought he could hold her? No room, no cell, no forcefield could contain her. She just had to phase home to Bgtzl, take a few steps, and phase back to be past any obstacle! He couldn't_ do_ this!

Tinya stopped and let herself become completely solid again. She might as well put everything she had behind this.

* * *

><p>Element Lad strolled leisurely through the trees, calm and unworried.<p>

Presently, he became aware of someone staggering through the woods near him. He turned and started following the noise.

Before long the noise stopped, but Jan kept walking until he came upon the source- Cosmic Boy.

The Legion Leader was sitting down with his back against a tree, breathing heavily. Jan dropped lightly to his knees next to him.

"You don't look very good."

He didn't say anything.

"Cosmic Boy?"

"Why is this _happening?_" the other boy asked. "This- it's like a nightmare. I attacked Garth and Dirk earlier today. _Attacked_. I've tried to justify it to myself, but-"

Rokk sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, but the tears started silently falling anyway. His voice started to crack.

"I did things that I _knew_ could hurt them- that could very well _kill _them! I _knew_ that, and I did it anyway! How could I _do_ that? What sort of a person promises t-to _look after_ the people he's in charge of, to protect his friends, to _help _them, and then goes and does something like _this?_ What if-"

Jan leaned forward and hugged him, silencing him.

"It's going to be all right, Rokk," he said comfortingly. "Have some faith in us."

He waited until he felt his teammate slump against him, knocked unconscious from the changed consistency of the nearby air, before he stood and started for the hill again.

* * *

><p>Imra heard the scream and started to run, ignoring the whipping of low branches and plants against her body. She skidded to a stop on the decaying leaves littering the forest floor and stared in horror.<p>

_:What are you _doing_, Tinya?:_

Phantom Girl was on the ground, electricity playing over her intangible body, teeth clenched. Her thoughts were clouded from the pain of the electrocution and her half-dimensional presence.

_I-I'm getting _out_! I _won't_ do this! I w-won't _'play'_ by Orion's rules! I _won't_ take orders from him!_

_:You're going to _kill_ yourself, Tinya!:_

She didn't answer.

Imra's throat caught as Tinya screamed again, still trying. Her hand tightened around the fragmenting bark of the tree next to her.

She couldn't let this go on.

There were some things worth breaking rules for.

Saturn Girl slammed her way through the pain in Tinya's mind and struck once, as hard as she could.

Phantom Girl slumped against the ground, completely solid, the leaves around her letting off little wisps of smoke.

Imra turned away and headed for the hill, furious beyond words.

* * *

><p>Element Lad emerged from the woods on one side of the large clearing at the foot of the hill.<p>

Saturn Girl pushed aside the last of the undergrowth on the other side just in time to see him leave the tree line.

Both their cuffs switched on the checkpoint broadcast.

"Very, _very _good job, Legionnaires. I'm impressed. But remember the rules- only one you can get to the top of the hill."

* * *

><p>Imra stood on her side of the clearing, fists clenched at her sides.<p>

This whole situation was ridiculous. They shouldn't have been forced into doing this.

_:I really hate this Otto Orion, whoever he is,:_ she told Jan, shifting her weight a little.

_I have to say I don't care for him much either. Now- shall we finish this and get our friends back?_

He extended one hand and the air around her twisted and started to solidify. She pushed her way through the unnaturally-heavy air and started to run.

* * *

><p>From the cover of the trees, Otto Orion watched as the last two Legionnaires standing began to fight.<p>

"This has certainly been the most interesting thing to happen in a while, hasn't it, Jakra?" he asked his companion.

"It has, sir," the butler said indifferently.

"Much more interesting than sitting in on yet another board meeting- they can do without me for this one, no matter how much they snivel about it. And infinitely more entertaining than watching a magnoball tournament. Though that Cosmic Boy was showing a bit of promise before he joined this little group."

"Just as you say, sir. Adam's school report arrived this morning."

Orion sighed.

"What's the scamp gone and done now?"

Jakra checked his omnicom. "It would appear that he's been stalking some of his underclassmen again, sir."

"He needs to learn that there's a time and a place for that," Orion said derisively. "He can't expect me to be around to clean up his messes forever. Let's get a closer look, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Imra dodged another attack and saw movement out of the corner of her eye. It took a few minutes of maneuvering until she managed to get the area in her line of sight, but when she did she had a hard time stopping herself from doing something drastic.<p>

She rolled out of the way of Jan's latest attempt at stopping her and used her momentum to stand up.

_:What do you say to finishing this a _different _way?:_

* * *

><p>Orion leaned against a tree and watched as Saturn Girl planted her feet firmly on the ground. Her eyes began to glow pink and a mental blast powerful enough to leave a glowing trail through the air lashed out at Element Lad. The boy dove to one side and changed the air above her into lead and let it drop. Imra darted away, distracted momentarily, and retaliated with another mental blast.<p>

Orion continued watching as the Legionnaires kept up their deadly repartee, leaving a pattern of disruption all through the clearing.

Jakra's eyebrows came together suddenly.

"Sir-"

Jan's line of flight brought him to his feet directly between the Legion's kidnappers and Saturn Girl.

The glow of Imra's eyes was bright enough to be seen across the clearing as she threw another mental bolt.

Element Lad ducked, lunged to the side, and came up facing Orion and Jakra, his hands glowing with power, just as Saturn Girl forced her will on the two men.

Her mental voice rang clearly through the open area.

_:How _dare_ you do this to us!:_ she snarled. Orion tried to wrench himself free of Imra's encompassing control, but she bent her power on his mind again and his joints locked up involuntarily.

_:Don't even _think _of trying to get out of this, Otto Orion! We _will_ get out of this, and we _will_ find our friends, and we _are _going to be leaving this planet _alive_- with _you_. _You _are going to Takron-Galtos, and I hope it will be _years _before you get out!:_

He must have said something in reply that Jan couldn't hear, because he could feel her increasing the mental pressure.

_:Tell us how to get out of these cuffs!:_

This time he heard the smug reply.

_I'll never tell._

Imra smiled coldly.

_:Too late, Orion. You thought of it already. There's a remote in his jacket pocket, Jan. Third button.:_

He stepped forward and spent an awkward moment digging for the remote. When he pushed the button, the cuffs _clicked _and opened, falling to the ground.

* * *

><p><em>:Do something about them,:<em> Saturn Girl told her teammate, gesturing to the men.

She waited until he'd started transmuting the air into nitrogen before letting the kidnappers go and turning her mind to searching, widening her awareness.

_:Dawnstar?:_

The reply was a little tired and faint, but clear.

I will be fine, Saturn Girl. Orion's assistant came out of the forest after he shot me and took me somewhere to stitch up my wings. I will not be flying anywhere for a while, though.

Imra sighed in relief.

_:That's fine, Dawnstar- where _are_ you?:_

_Underground. The hill, I think. I could hear the fighting. Colossal Boy is here- I think he must have put up a fight when we were taken. I took the IV out of him, and I think he's waking up. The ship is here, too. It looks rather… damaged. I do not know if it will fly._

_:We'll have to try. Wait for us and see if you can wake Gim up. We need to find everyone else and get off this planet- the sooner the better. I'm not staying here any longer than I have to.:_


	13. Technical Difficulties

**Chapter 11**

"**Technical Difficulties"**

* * *

><p>Dirk tossed a very mechanical-looking piece of equipment carelessly over his shoulder. It caught the dawn sunlight creeping through the windows as it arced towards the floor.<p>

Dawnstar caught it.

"Would it not be a better idea for you_ not_ throw important parts of our transportation around?" she asked.

"_Transportation?_" Dirk snorted. "It's _trashed_. Junked. Falling apart. Utterly destroyed. Beyond repair!"

"It held up long enough to get us home. Surely it cannot be _that_ bad?"

He threw up his hands.

"It's _worse _than that! I can't even _begin_ to fix this! It needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, practically!"

Dawnstar put the ship part down carefully as Sun Boy kicked part of the hull in frustration. Farther down, a panel broke off and crashed to the floor.

* * *

><p>Element Lad looked up as Dawnstar and Sun Boy walked into the kitchen for breakfast.<p>

"How are your wings this morning?"

Dawnstar twisted around and checked the bandages, stretching her muscles slightly.

"A little better. The stitches have stopped pulling so much."

"I can't_ believe_ he used bullets," Phantom Girl muttered. "He must be a sadist."

"I didn't know those still _existed,_" Lightning Lad complained. "They're illegal at _least,_ right?"

"They are not," Dawnstar told him. "We use them still sometimes on Starhaven. But it is very, very rare to see them anywhere else. I had thought the only ones off-planet were in museums."

"How is the work on the ship going?" Cosmic Boy asked. He was seated firmly across the table from Lightning Lad.

Dirk's face fell.

"It's not going. I'm not sure it _can_ go."

"You just have to ask Mr. Brande," Marla Latham said. "He funds you, and he won't mind paying your expenses. He doesn't mind at all."

Triplicate Girl shifted in her seat.

"We don't want to impose on him, Mr. Latham…"

"We need to be able to solve these sorts of problems on our own," Rokk said firmly. "We can't be waiting for repairs from a shop to get done. It would be better if we could handle this all right here."

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl was giving Colossal Boy a thoughtful look.<p>

"Gim?"

He looked up from his food, expression a little distant.

"Hm?"

"Are you awake this morning?"

He smiled at her.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Just thinking."

Imra moved her chair closer.

"About what?"

"Don't you know already?" There was good humor in his voice.

"It's nice to ask," she told him, smiling slightly.

Gim straightened up in his chair.

"If we got ambushed and kidnapped in our own ship, what's to stop it happening again?"

"About that-" Tyroc started to say from his other side.

"No, it's okay. It takes more gas to knock me out than most people. It's not your fault I was the only one awake when Orion and his people got on board."

"Still," he said. "And what about here?"

Gim gave him a questioning look.

"Here?"

"Yeah, in this building," he elaborated, gesturing at the walls. "You remember that Lyle kid? He walked in here and nobody noticed until he wanted us to. _Outdoor markets_ have better security than us!"

Sun Boy looked at him for a moment and then shrugged.

"He's right."

"The ship is important, too," Cos reminded everyone.

"We should be able to shoot at stuff," Garth said.

Dream Girl looked at him.

"_That's_ your priority? Really?"

He ignored her.

"I think these are good points," Blok put in.

"I think we should have another audition," Dawnstar said. "For technical types."

The Legionnaires looked at each other.

* * *

><p>A week later, the tryout announcements had been sent out and people were showing up for auditions.<p>

Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl stood at the large window overlooking the area in front of Legion Headquarters.

"_Wow_," Phantom Girl said, looking out over the crowd. "That worked _really well_ this time."

* * *

><p>Lyle Norg looked around furtively before letting himself become visible again and stepping out into the square from the alley.<p>

His parents were going to kill him for showing up, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that the Legion was holding auditions; and that he _was _going to get in.

He looked around again and saw that he was standing a few feet away from a tall blonde girl who was scowling angrily at everything, as though the very ground itself was deeply offensive to her.

"Are you here for the tryouts, too?" he asked.

She snarled something at him in a language he'd never heard before and he backed off.

"Okay, _okay_. I was just trying to be friendly."

Lyle ambled towards the larger crowd, then decided to stick to the edges of it when he saw the press deeper within. He skirted the group and ended up near the wall of the building, in shadow from the climbing sun.

There was a rotund boy sitting up against the base of the building, trying to engage a small girl, head resting behind her drawn-up knees, in conversation. He went over.

The boy looked up as he approached.

"Hey there. You're here for tryouts too, right? I'm Chuck."

Lyle smiled at him, liking his easy manner.

"What else is anyone around here for? I'm Lyle. Who's your friend?"

Chuck looked at the girl with a pleading expression.

"I dunno. I can't get her to say anything."

Lyle took a step around Chuck and knelt down to look her in the eyes. Hers were purple and barely visible between her pitch-black bangs and the arms encircling her knees.

"Hey there," he said, smiling. He held his hand out. "I'm Lyle."

She looked at him and blinked a few times.

"I'm Salu."

Her voice was surprisingly husky and a few octaves deeper than he would have guessed.

"Nice to meet you! Where'd you come from?"

She scooted away a few inches.

Lyle smiled again, this time the expression not quite reaching his eyes, and turned back to Chuck.

"Awfully quiet, isn't she?"

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy and Dream Girl had joined Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl at the window.<p>

Cos looked out at the crowd with a bit of trepidation.

"There are a_ lot_ more people this time!"

He turned to Dream Girl.

"You didn't say there were _that_ many! Some warning would have been nice!"

She shrugged. "I thought you'd be pleased."

"What are we supposed to do if we get a call in the middle of auditions?" he demanded.

"We won't. Trust me on this one."

* * *

><p>Something was nagging Lyle.<p>

"Just a minute," he told Chuck, who had been in the middle of a sentence.

He stood and took a few steps so that he could see into an oddly-angled corner made by the different sections of the building, creating a small alcove.

"Are you spying on us or are you just generally lurking?" he asked.

The hooded person didn't look up.

"I'm not lurking and I am _not_ spying. I'm protecting my eyes."

Lyle craned his head in an attempt to look up the hood.

"Really?"

The person in the cloak looked up, revealing a delicate blue face darkened with shadow, completely black eyes set behind escaping tendrils of black hair.

"It's a_ lot _brighter here than I'm used to. I'm still getting used to it."

Lyle pursed his lips for a moment, thinking.

"Talokian, right?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, the gesture almost lost in the darkness under the hood.

"You can tell without seeing the ears?"

"Xenobiology is my specialty," he told her. "I'm-"

"Lyle. I heard."

She extended a hand out from under her cloak. Darkness streamed off it in thin strands.

"I'm Tasmia."

Lyle took her hand and shook it firmly.

"The Shadow Champion of Talok VIII has come to try out for the Legion? I'm impressed."

Tasmia glared at him, her grip tightening.

"You-"

"-can't learn about xenobiology without knowing a bit about culture, too."

She let go of his hand and hers disappeared beneath the cloak again.

"I think you know too much."

He shrugged and smiled winningly at her.

"I try."

It was hard to tell, but Lyle was pretty sure she rolled her eyes.

"If you're such a know-it-all, go talk to _him_," she said, jerking her head farther back into the alcove. Someone was sitting on a small bench placed there.

Lyle whistled softly to himself.

* * *

><p>"You look…hm."<p>

Sun Boy tilted his head and bit the inside of his lip.

"I give up. What's with you?"

Cosmic Boy looked at him, still shocked by the sheer number of people outside. He was feeling a little out of his depth.

"Haven't you seen the crowd outside?" Saturn Girl asked.

They were standing in the room they'd used for tryouts earlier in the year. Most of the rest of the Legionnaires were already seated, and Marla Latham had found himself a chair and was sitting comfortably in an out-of-the-way corner.

Dirk shook his head.

"It's _huge!_" Phantom Girl said, spreading her arms.

"Much bigger than five people," Dream Girl said, going to her seat. "It's going to take a while to get through everyone."

Cosmic Boy turned to Saturn Girl.

"I didn't think there'd be this many people when I agreed to hold more auditions!"

She held up a hand.

"Everything is going to be fine. We're just looking for technical people, remember? If anyone shows up who's outstanding, we can take them, too. I think you're worrying too much. Nothing is going to go wrong."

* * *

><p>Lyle stood, hands in his jacket pocket, too surprised to say anything.<p>

After a minute or so, he walked over the bench.

"Y'know, if someone had told me an hour ago when I was sneaking out of the house that I was going to meet a Coluan, I would've laughed at them. Well, after I'd figured out how they see me when I was invisible."

The boy on the bench kept his arms crossed and resolutely ignored him.

Lyle perched on the bare area of the bench, made to sit two people.

"I'm Lyle. Who're you?"

Without so much as glancing over, the boy pushed him off the bench, sending Lyle tumbling to the ground.

He propped himself up on his elbows and regarded the boy.

"Did I get too close or something?" he asked in Coluan.

Now the boy looked –no, _glared_- at him, with an expression similar to that of the girl Lyle had passed on the way towards the building.

"Are you _really_ arrogant enough to consider yourself to be proficient in speaking that language or are you simply _idiotic_ enough to not have noticed how utterly atrocious your pronunciation and syntax are?" he asked icily.

Lyle stood and dusted his pants off.

"_Ouch_. And I _was_ just about to suggest I introduce you to Salu- you could both sit in silence together. I think you would have enjoyed it. But you and Snarling Girl back there would work better. You could bite each other's heads off."

* * *

><p>On Weber's World, President Winema Wazzo stood in the hallway outside the conference room and let herself lean back against the wall. She sighed.<p>

Her Chief of Security looked over at her.

"You're going to need to get back in there in a minute, Madame President."

"I know, I know, Ontiir," she said. "But I still can't shake the feeling that is a very bad idea."

"It's what they're accepting, Ma'am. This is possibly the biggest step forward for them in centuries."

Winema rubbed her temples.

"I know, I know that, too. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. It feels too much like we're being bullied."

"We might be a bit, Ma'am, but surely that's better than war?"

Ontiir checked the time and reached for the door.

"Your break is over, Madame President."

* * *

><p>"Okay, who've we got next?" Garth asked.<p>

Lyle stuck his head into the open doorway and waved.

"Hey again, Legionnaires."

"Oh, it's_ you_ again."

Lyle entered the room.

"What, you're not happy to see me?"

Saturn Girl looked down at him sternly.

"Does your _father_ know you're here?"

He looked at her in surprise.

"You're kidding, right? Of course not!"

* * *

><p>President Wazzo exited the conference room again, the meeting at an end, and walked to her office. Ontiir left her to walk through the door on her own.<p>

"They could have at least given some warning," she grumbled to herself. "It could almost be considered underhanded."

She sat in her chair a few moments and reviewed what she still had to do.

Well, if she didn't do it now, she'd never find the time. And it had to be dealt with now, anyway.

She reached for the button used to place calls.

* * *

><p>Tyroc looked over at Triplicate Girl.<p>

"Are these things always like this?"

Triplicate Girl looked at the long black scorch mark adorning the wall behind them and shrugged.

"The last one wasn't."

Garth peeked up over the edge of the table.

"I hope they aren't_ all_ like this," he grumbled. "Are there still more people?"

"Plenty," Nura said. "Don't worry, you'll like this next one."

He pulled himself back into his chair just as the door opened hesitantly. A small girl walked into the room.

Saturn Girl felt Cosmic Boy's sudden stab of alarm.

_:Rokk?:_

_She's _Imskian_! _

Imra frowned as the girl started to answer the questions Element Lad was fielding to her.

_:It doesn't matter. We're _not_ going to let planetary politics dictate to us who we let in. And _you _shouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions about people based only on where they come from.:_

_I _don't _usually, but-_

_:It doesn't _matter _if you're from Braal and she's from Imsk and your planets have been fighting nasty wars on and off for the past few centuries! She's come to try out, she's going to get fair billing!:_

* * *

><p>Nura leaned back in her seat as the Imskian girl exited and looked down the table towards Rokk.<p>

"You're getting a call, Cos. Go answer the phone."

"You said there weren't going to be any missions today!" he protested, standing up.

"It's not a mission- it's the President. The lady who let you have a _job?_ Go talk to her."

* * *

><p>Sun Boy looked around nervously.<p>

"Is it just me or are the shadows getting deeper?"

"It's not you," a girl said, walking into the room and flipping her hood off. "That just happens when I'm around."

Dream Girl sat back in her chair and covered her mouth with a hand, as if she was thinking.

"The Shadow Champion of Talok VIII," she remarked to Blok, sitting next to her. "I know I saw her coming, but still. I was not expecting that when I went to sleep last night."

_:You didn't tell her to come?:_

_She's Talokian, Imra. She does what _she _wants. I highly doubt I'd be able to order her to do something even if I _did_ know her personally._

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy answered the call. The President's face came up on the screen.<p>

"Um, Madame President-"

"Do you still have your 'auditions' going?" she asked quickly. She looked a bit harried.

"Yes," he told in her confusion. "There's lots of people this time-"

"I just made an agreement where one of the terms was that you take a person in that crowd today."

* * *

><p>Lightning Lad had taken over the auditions while Cosmic Boy was busy.<p>

"I think we need better organization next time if things are going to stay this big," he grumbled, searching through the pages of notes on the table for a blank space to write.

The door on the opposite side of the room slammed open.

The Legionnaires looked up as a tall blonde girl strode into the center of the room, and stopped- arms crossed, feet planted firmly apart, expression stormy.

No one spoke for a moment.

"And you are…?" Triplicate Girl said eventually.

The girl stood stock still.

"Laurel Gand."

Her voice and speech was a little off, as though she wasn't used to speaking Interlac.

"And you're from…?"

"Daxam."

_Oh, _that's _why she's so grumpy_, Tinya remarked privately to Imra. _She's worried about getting _contaminated _from us filthy little _aliens_. _

Saturn Girl picked up.

"What do you call yourself?"

Laurel kept staring fixedly at some spot on the wall behind their heads. She was silent.

"We take on new names for use in the Legion," she prompted.

Laurel was silent for a few moments more before speaking.

"Andromeda."

* * *

><p>"He doesn't look like much," Sun Boy confided to Tyroc.<p>

"Hey," Lightning Lad said unenthusiastically. "Who're you?"

"Chuck- Charles Taine," the boy said.

"And… you do what?"

"Just watch."

He took a step back and started to inflate.

Saturn Girl's chair made a loud scraping noise as she leaned back in shock.

Garth just stared.

"O-_kay_ then…"

* * *

><p>Cosmic Boy entered the room deep in thought about ten minutes later and returned to his seat.<p>

Everyone but Dream Girl stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

Eventually he seemed to realize everyone else's attention.

"Was there someone from Daxam yet?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sun Boy told him. "This really angry girl who looked ready to destroy something."

Rokk nodded absently.

"Okay. Fine. Who's next?"

"Aren't you going to tell us what the call was about?" Triplicate Girl asked.

"We've been ordered to take the Daxamite girl."

"What?" Lighting Lad demanded.

Cosmic Boy looked at his teammate.

"The President made an agreement with Daxam that kept them from attacking UP shipping lanes that means_ we_ have to take her."

"Why should we be forced into that?" Garth demanded. "What does that have to do with u-"

"They _had _to make the agreement in the _first place_ because _Daxam _was attacking the shipping lanes because _we_ saved that transport ship and all those people from getting _blown to pieces!_" Rokk yelled.

He took a shaky breath while everyone was busy being stunned and settled into his chair.

"Now- who's next?"

* * *

><p>It was almost mid-afternoon when they got to their last audition.<p>

Phantom Girl was holding a silent conversation with Saturn Girl when she looked up.

_Holy-!_

"Oh, _hey!_" Triplicate Girl said enthusiastically, half-rising out of her seat. "Couldn't you have called and said you'd be coming-"

_It's a Coluan! A Brainiac! Right there! How'd he get on this planet?_

_:We're not talking about this right now,: _Saturn Girl said firmly. _:This is a discussion for _later_.:_

She cut the conversation off, but was intrigued. As the boy answered questions, face impassive, she reached out towards his mind-

_:GET OUT OF MY HEAD!:_

He hadn't moved so much as an inch, but it felt like he turned and hit her in the face. She jerked back in her chair a slight bit. It made a small scraping sound against the floor and Dream Girl glanced questioningly at her for a moment.

Imra frowned to herself. The mental shove she'd gotten was unexpectedly powerful and focused. Where had he learned to do that? _How _had he learned to do that?

* * *

><p>"Do we really have to take that Daxamite girl?" Luornu complained. "She spent the whole time glaring at everything. Clearly she doesn't want to be here, so why let her on the team?"<p>

"We have to, or we break galactic peace," Rokk said. "I don't want to talk about her anymore. What about Lyle?"

"Well, he didn't sneak up on us this time," Sun Boy admitted. "That's better than before."

"Do we really need that much more of a reason for Chief Norg to hate us?" Gim asked pleadingly.

"No," Tyroc said.

"What about that Bouncing Boy guy?" Triplicate Girl asked.

"He _inflates,_" Lightning Lad said, using his hands to illustrate. He still sounded a little unsettled by that fact. "And that's it. I _hope_ that's it. I don't think people are supposed to stretch like that. Anyway, what good is inflating?"

"I liked that Shrinking Violet girl," Colossal Boy said. "She seemed nice. A little shy, but she's Imskian. She'll know how to fight, right?"

Cosmic Boy flinched. No one noticed.

"If we're going to look for fighters, I say we take Shadow Lass," Tyroc said. "They_ know_ how to fight."

Sun Boy muttered something about the dark.

"I thought we were going to be sticking to 'technical types'," Dawnstar said. "If we are still holding to that, then I say we _must_ take Brainiac 5."

* * *

><p><em>It's <em>later_, Imra!_ Tinya thought fiercely. They're _off discussing the people who showed up, and now _we_ need to discuss _this_!_

Imra reached out and linked minds.

_Yes?_ Jan asked, sounding a little confused. _Is there something you wanted to say?_

_We need to talk about this Brainiac 5, _Tinya said firmly.

_Do we really? _

_Yes, we really do, Nura!_

_He came and auditioned and caused no trouble,_ Blok said.

_Yes, but are we going to let him _in_?_

There was silence.

_:We should give him a chance.:_

_Imra, _I_ want be sure that _you're_ absolutely sure about this,_ Tinya said carefully. _You think it's a good idea to give this guy a chance? When he's _clearly_ not bothering to hide the fact that he's a Brainiac?_

_:Some things you can't hide, Tinya.:_

_And about this 'not hiding' thing- where's everyone else?_

_:I didn't include them.:_

_What?_ Jan asked, surprised.

_:No one else had made the connection, and I don't see any reason to tell them if they don't figure it out for themselves.:_

_Is not telling them really a good idea? _Nura asked uneasily. Won't they just get mad?

_:Us not telling them means they can make an unbiased decision. Which _we_ can't.:_

_Do you want us to listen to them on this, then? Jan asked._

_:Give their views about it consideration. You need to judge the people who show up on what they can do, and less on who -or what- they are.:_

Tinya didn't feel totally convinced.

_Just tell me you have a good reason to think that we aren't all going to get murdered in our sleep or something. _

_:I never felt any- wrongness- from him.:_

_Wrongness?_

_:It's hard to describe to people who can't feel other's minds. It's… you know how it feels when you wake up and for a minute you can't remember where you are? Or the way you feel inside when you're really, _really_ angry? It's like both of those together- off-balance and a sort of dark blackish-red.:_

_Dark blackish-red? You feel in color?_

_We're going to let him in, _Nura said firmly. _And he's not going to cause any trouble. Well, major, destroying-the-world trouble that _I _can see, anyway. And I'm one of the best._

_:We need to give him a chance. _Everyone _deserves that.:_

* * *

><p>An half an hour later, everyone was done debating.<p>

"Are we really done now?" Lightning Lad asked. "This has been going on _forever._"

Phantom Girl rolled her eyes.

"It didn't even take up the whole day."

"It feels like forever. The last audition was over like that."

"There was only the five of us, then," Dawnstar reminded him.

"Well, we've only taken five people this time and look how long it took us!"

"Enough complaining," Cosmic Boy ordered. "Everyone is agreed? This is the final list?"

There were nods around the table.

Cosmic Boy put his notes down, then reached back quickly in an attempt to keep them from toppling off the table.

"Good. Let's go make the announcement, then."

* * *

><p>As the Legionnaires left, the notes littering the table finally slid to the floor in a flurry of rustling paper.<p>

When the paperslide settled, the paper on top was Cosmic Boy's final list.

* * *

><p><em>NEW RECRUITS<em>

_Invisible Kid_

_Shadow Lass_

_Shrinking Violet_

_Andromeda_

_Brainiac 5_


	14. Personal Space

**Chapter 12**

"**Personal Space"**

* * *

><p>Something lanced through Tasmia Mallor's closed eyes and into her brain.<p>

She grunted painfully and tried opening one eye.

The light was blinding.

Swiftly, one arm came up from other the covers and cut through the air, cloaking the room in darkness.

Tasmia, newly named Shadow Lass, sat up in bed and sighed.

It was only dawn right now, and already the sun was too bright. Why did Earth's sun have to be so intense?

Well, there was no help for it. She was well and truly awake now, with the beginnings of a headache and pangs in her stomach.

Time for food. Water would probably help the headache some, at least.

* * *

><p>Marla Latham snorted and rose back to consciousness in a series of mental fits and starts.<p>

What woke him up?

There was an insistent beeping from his bedside table. Marla reached over blindly and groped for his handheld computer.

He grabbed it and brought it close to his face, squinting. He had to tilt it a few different ways until he could get the glare off the screen and read the words underneath.

Finally, he managed it.

"All right, I'm getting up," he grumbled to himself. "Hold on."

* * *

><p>Tasmia tried to pull her hood up farther and stepped into the kitchen.<p>

Nura was sitting there, two plates out.

Tasmia stopped and stared, then flipped her hood down. The windows had been blacked out and the artificial lighting was on softly.

Dream Girl looked up at her new teammate and smiled, gesturing at the empty chair.

The new Legionnaire took a seat cautiously.

"I know, it's a bit weird," Nura told her, smiling reassuringly. "But I wanted to talk to you."

"Really?" Tasmia asked, looking over her breakfast suspiciously. It _looked_ mostly familiar…

"I was surprised to see you yesterday. I didn't think I'd meet the Shadow Champion until I was officially High Seer."

Tasmia shrugged, her mouth full of eggs.

"I mean, you're their Head of State. Their… High Priestess. Their Queen."

"We've been in our own system too long," she told Dream Girl. "There was a time when we had the best strike-and-run fleet in the galaxy. A time when we were sought out by other planets for trade and politics. Now everyone ignores us and talks about how _barbaric_-"

Nura noticed the face she made and fixed the need to mention this sensitivity to the others soon.

"-and backwater we are. I'm the Shadow Champion. I have a responsibility to do the best by my people, and to do that I need to get them out into the rest of the galaxy. But I can't do that if I have no idea what anyone else is doing. That answer it?"

Nura sat back in her chair and watched Tasmia finish her food.

"And the Legion is a good way to do that?"

Shadow Lass put her plate aside and wiped her mouth.

"Of course. Where else do you get to travel the galaxy, meet new people, and beat up criminals at the same time?"

* * *

><p>Dirk was up early out of habit. It was too early to go down to breakfast at this hour –he liked eating in company- and it would be dreary to just sit around. He might as well do something.<p>

It was in that frame of mind that he was going down to the cruiser. Maybe Dawnstar was right and it wasn't quite as hopeless a case as he had thought.

The door was already open. Who else could possibly be up right now?

He walked in and looked around. The lights were on and someone had _clearly_ been busy, but there wasn't anyone aroun-

"Did you _want_ something?"

Dirk spun around and screamed a bit.

There was a _head_ there- no body. Just a head.

Brainiac 5 glared at him.

As he watched, the rest of his young teammate's body walked _itself_ out from around a jutting section of the cruiser.

Dirk tried to steady himself as the younger boy's neck retracted, until he appeared more normal.

"Uh…" he said, trying not to let his shaken state show in his expression and failing. "You're up pretty early."

"I am not made of biological compounds," Brainiac 5 told him flatly. "I have no need to sleep."

_O-kaay; then…_

"Well, I was going to try and work some on the cruiser-"

"I am vastly more intelligent than you. I am handling the situation, which you were presumably unable to do, consummately. You would hold up progress and be in the way if I were to let you- _'assist'_."

* * *

><p>Shadow Lass looked up as the door to the kitchen opened quietly.<p>

"You look nervous this morning," Dream Girl remarked.

Cosmic Boy's eyes darted around the room.

"_She's_ not in here, is she?"

"'_She'_?" Tasmia asked, confused.

Nura rolled her eyes.

"Shrinking Violet's not up yet, Cos. And you can't spend all your time sneaking around. You're _going_ to have to talk to her sooner or later."

"But she's Imskian!" he said, pulling up another chair.

"Yes, and?"

"And my planet's been at war with her planet on and off for centuries!" he exclaimed, uncharacteristically agitated. He was making wide gestures in such a haphazard manner that Tasmia doubted he'd even noticed he was doing them. "Nearly every adult on both of our planets has personally fought someone from the other! Imskians train their children to fight! Personally!"

"Imsk is a warrior planet?" Tasmia asked, interested.

"Mercenaries, bodyguards, and bounty hunters, mostly," Nura told her. "The best fighters stay on-planet as a permanent part of the army, or government security."

"I should look her family up," Cos said into his hands. "I bet she holds a personal grudge or something. A parent killed in battle, or an older sibling, or something."

"You're being pessimistic, Rokk," Nura said. "Lighten up. That sort of thing happens in movies way more than in real life."

"We're superheroes," he reminded her. "How is our 'real life' any different than a movie?"

* * *

><p>Lyle wandered the hallways of his new home, enjoying his morning of discovery. He'd seen a bit of the building during his earlier visit, but not nearly enough to find his way around easily.<p>

He was in the middle of fixing this when he ran into Colossal Boy in the hallway.

The other Legionnaire smiled at him, a bit nervously, and Lyle switched direction to walk with him.

"You tell your dad about this yet?" Gim asked.

Lyle shook his head.

"Nah. Figured I'd save it a few more hours. I left a note saying I might be at a friends' house overnight when I left yesterday. So I've got a little more time before I call home and say what really happened."

"That's a lot more than anyone down at the station would do. But I guess you _are_ his son."

Lyle snorted.

"What? You think I'm going to call my father and say 'Hey, Dad, guess what? I went and joined that team you hate, so I won't be coming home. Can you send my stuff over?'. Mom's going to be the only one home soon. _She_ can tell him."

Gim looked down at him.

"He yells at home, too?"

"Not really," Lyle admitted. "But I've spent so much time invisibly hanging out in HQ that I keep thinking he will. But I know he's not going to be happy when he hears about this."

Colossal Boy smiled tentatively at him.

"No sending your stuff over, huh?"

"No," he said seriously, shaking his head. "I packed everything important in a bag before I snuck out and stashed it before tryouts. Dad'll probably rent a storage locker and clean out my room. Or throw it all away."

Gim's steps faltered for a moment before he found his stride again.

"He'd really do that?"

Lyle shrugged.

"He might."

* * *

><p>Marla Latham looked up from his desk and put his call on hold temporarily.<p>

The walls were shaking.

* * *

><p>Laurel Gand punched the wall again in frustration, the building materials crumbling under her fist, leaving a small crater.<p>

She pulled her fist back again and felt it connect solidly with the wall. Hitting things on this planet was- much more satisfying than doing it on Daxam, where things didn't fall apart.

And she hated herself for thinking that.

_Daxam is superior in all things,_ she chanted to herself mentally. _All else is beneath notice. All else is dust which scatters in our wake, all else is ignorance and tainted. Daxam is enlightened. Daxam is pure._

Laurel hated being here. She hated being off her planet, out in the company of mongrel trash, where strange things happened in her body, where the very atmosphere could kill her if she took her protective transuit off, and suddenly everything was too fragile. She'd broken the bed on accident getting into it last night, and had to sleep on the floor.

_Why am I _doing_ this?_ she thought, infuriated, tears starting to leak out of her eyes. _Why did I let them send me away like this? Why did I leave home?_

_Clarence,_ a saner part of her whispered. _You're doing this for Clarence. Remember what happened to Uncle Roger? Aunt Aurelia? You want that to happen to Clarence?_

Laurel sobbed once, remembering, and stopped punching the wall. She reached up to wipe the tears away, but only managed to spread the uncomfortable wetness around her face under the transuit.

_And I can't even feel anything through this thing!_ she thought savagely. _It keeps the lead away, and protects me from getting contaminated by everyone else, but I can't even tell if the air is moving!_

Still angry, she stalked over to the lockpad and stuck her hand on it.

It didn't react.

She took her hand off and pushed it against the pad harder. It still didn't do anything- not even light up to say that the reading was wrong.

_And the thing keeps my body heat in, too!_

Laurel ripped the lockpad out of the wall, the trailing wires sparking slightly as they fell out of the hole. She grabbed the door with both hands and pulled.

The screech of distorting metal dragged across the ground and forced into position echoed across the building.

* * *

><p>Lyle saw an opportunity.<p>

He sped up slightly, leaving Gim behind in the hallway, and hooked his arm around Shrinking Violet. He felt her jump violent in surprise before the world tilted suddenly.

He looked up from his new position on the floor at his teammate's focused expression. "I guess that was kind of a bad idea."

It looked as though something connected in Violet's head, because she promptly let go of the arm she'd used to throw him and started to back off, only to hit Colossal Boy.

"Hey, it's okay," Lyle assured her brightly, standing up. "I should've known better than to sneak up on an Imskian."

"I thought that was impossible," Gim said, smiling slightly.

"Hey, you learn something new every day."

He caught Violet around the shoulders as she tried to inch around them.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's go find the other new guy. There's science to be done!"

Violet said something. Lyle cocked his head.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"How do you know I'm interested in coming?" she asked again, only a little louder.

"I looked you up," he said, dragging her along. "Salu Digsby, flew through school in record time on Imsk. Studied heavily in physics. You're a science person at heart."

She didn't say anything and he looked over at her.

"C'mon, aren't you at least even a _little _excited? There's a Coluan in the building! We can go talk to him! We're going to be working with him! How awesome is _that?_"

They had just entered the short hallway that lead to the doors of the cruiser hangar. Suddenly they slid open and Sun Boy stalked out.

"You're going in there? Good- _you_ can deal with the brainiac in there."

* * *

><p>Saturn Girl stepped softly into the hallway that Laurel's room opened into. The door was mangled and the doorframe and threshold had bright metallic scores on them from where her new teammate had forced her door open.<p>

"Andromeda?" she asked.

The girl whirled around.

Imra came closer.

"What's wrong?"

Laurel took a step back and glared at her.

"The only thing wrong here is this door," she growled. "I knew aliens were despicable, but I had thought that even _Earthlings_ would know how to make a building properly."

Imra frowned slightly. "That's an offensive word to use, Andromeda."

"I _knew _that, psychcreep."

Imra's head jerked up.

"There was _absolutely_ no call for that," she said quietly.

Andromeda glared down her nose at the senior Legionnaire.

"You _exist_, don't you?"

Saturn Girl straightened up some.

"I know you're Daxamite, Laurel Gand, but you're on Earth now. You have no right to insult people simply because you think you're entitled to."

"I do have the right," Andromeda said fiercely. "How_ dare_ you say otherwise!"

Imra was about to say something in reply when she picked up a thought.

"You don't need to prove anything to the people on Daxam," she said. "You're your own person. You don't have to do something just because they told you so."

Laurel's head jerked back as if she'd been slapped.

"You-!"

"Whatever they've told you, Laurel, they're wrong," she continued as the other girl's thoughts practically shoved themselves at her. "You don't need to be perfect. You don't have to act like this."

Andromeda's mouth worked for a few seconds as she searched for words. Ultimately, though, language failed her.

In blind anger, she took a swing at Saturn Girl.

It was sheer luck that Imra had caught the stirrings of the impulse before Laurel had act on it. She'd moved quickly to the side, and Andromeda's fist just skimmed her cheek before burying itself in the wall.

She stared at her teammate in solemn silence for a moment.

Andromeda herself was staring wide-eyed at the crater she'd made.

"You could have killed me, Laurel."

The new Legionnaire's expression immediately fell back into smoldering anger. Andromeda turned on her heel and stalked off.

* * *

><p>Querl watched Sun Boy leave the hangar briefly, then turned back to the cruiser, refusing to be baffled.<p>

The boy was _obviously _inadequate for the work that needed to be done. Simply having the fact pointed out shouldn't have caused that reaction.

At least he was alone again, now.

As usual, a part of him he had long since ceased to be conscious of locked up his gut reaction to that thought.

"Hey. How's it going?"

Brainiac 5 looked up into the smiling face of one of his new teammates.

"Fine," he said tersely, and looked back down at his work.

He heard a sigh.

"It's nice if you give more detail than that, you know," Lyle told him.

"You asked how my progress was. It is fine considering the interruptions I have had to endure. Further detail is not necessary."

"You could try to sound friendly, too."

"That would imply that I am actually interested in the other person's company."

"You're really not into the whole socializing thing, are you?"

"There is work to be done."

Lyle scooted into his line of sight.

"Great! That's why I'm here! What still needs doing?"

There were a few long seconds of silence as they stared at each other.

"I'm doing it," Querl said eventually, trying to figure out in his head why this other boy was so interested in sticking around. "Help is unnecessary and entirely unwanted."

"You're not even _trying_, are you?" the other boy asked, tone changing slightly.

_Trying _what_?_ Querl thought. He didn't let it show.

"I mean, I've _told_ you what you're doing wrong-"

He blinked.

"I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Yes, you are. You just did."

"No I didn't," Querl said, looking over at the ship, thoroughly confused now. "The panels-"

"_I'm not talking about the ship!_"

* * *

><p>Salu sat against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest, trying to fade into the background and just watch.<p>

This situation was so… odd. She hadn't really expected to get in. She wasn't even sure why she'd thought showing up would be a good idea. In afterthought, it seemed like impulse.

That was_ not_ normal. Salu was certain her mother would have stopped her if she'd known and hadn't been so distracted. Uncle Boza-

"Hi."

She looked up for a moment at Colossal Boy, who was smiling down at her a bit anxiously.

"So… I heard Lyle- you study physics?"

Salu looked away and hid her face against her knees.

"Um… you're awfully shy, aren't you?"

_Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk to anyone right now. _

He tried some humor.

"I guess Shrinking Violet is a pretty good name for you, huh?"

Salu bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying something rude.

_That's Mama's special name for me. Piss off._

"It works pretty good with your powers too, though." It sounded as if he was chattering aimlessly out of nervousness. "It's pretty descriptive- I mean I guess everybody's names are pretty descriptive- but then you've got Cosmic Boy, which is actually pretty vague- but- oh…"

_Thank Valor he shut up. Maybe he'll go away now._

There was silence for a few minutes, and eventually she chanced a glance upward and saw him looking off towards the ship, one hand in his hair, expression forlorn.

He caught sight of her looking at him and smiled nervously.

"You know, y-you're pretty-"

The door screeched open.

* * *

><p>Andromeda stormed blindly into the room, mind reeling; unable to reconcile the two parts of her.<p>

_She's right, I could have _killed_ her- _

_No, that doesn't matter, it's an _alien_- _

_She- _

IT_- _

_But- _

_You're a _good _Daxamite- _

_It would be _murder_- _

_Remember Uncle Roger- _

_Mother used to say-_

_She knows _better _now-_

_Clarence would _hate_-_

_He won't be _at all_ if you don't- _

"Did you _want_ something?" an annoyed voice asked.

Laurel's thoughts screeched to a halt as she looked up.

Here was something both sides of her could agree on hating.

"No one would _ever_ want anything from _you_," she spat, and got a little bit of satisfaction out of the slight flinch she noticed with her newly-enhanced vision.

"If you have no constructive business here, _leave_," Brainiac 5 continued. He looked around the room. "And that goes for the _rest_ of you, too."

"Who are you to order _me_ around?" Andromeda demanded, stalking towards him. The boy she remembered from yesterday faded out of view, and she was peripherally aware of movement elsewhere as well.

The Coluan stared up at her impassively.

"I am the one attempting to do something constructive with my time- whereas you seem to be concerned only with causing trouble."

Laurel snorted and sneered at him.

"I'd be more worried about _you_, _Brainiac_."

This time the flinch was much more pronounced.

"What, you didn't think anyone was going to _notice?_"

_Someone will notice _you_-_

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly for half a second, trying to will the voice away. But it persisted.

_You're no better than _he_ is-_

"Have fun with your little deception while it lasts," Andromeda growled.

She turned and strode out.

_Please Valor, make this _stop_..._

* * *

><p>Triplicate Girl walked into the room and stood in the doorway, hands on her hips.<p>

"I talked to Sun Boy," she said.

The other occupant of the room ignored her.

She waited a few moments, and then sighed in exasperation.

"Querl, c'mon. I've _told_ you that if someone says something to you, you say something back."

"That would incite a conversation and I have no interest in social interaction. It is a distraction from useful endeavors."

"Those 'useful endeavors' wouldn't be possible if people didn't talk to each other, Querl," she said, walking over. "You have to talk to share ideas."

"That is an acceptable use of time."

Luornu stood next to him and watched him work, thinking.

"Is this _really_ all you want to do with your life? Work? _All the time?_"

He looked at her, expression slightly annoyed.

"There's nothing _better_ to _do_."

Querl went back to work.

"You're never going to make any friends if you don't talk to people," she said, and found herself wondering again why he always got just a little bit colder whenever she mentioned the word. "And I don't care if you are Coluan- you need people."

"These _'people'_ you speak of are by and large blithering morons who find it impossible to comprehend the majority of what I say and have no interest whatsoever in taking the time to actually _think_."

"You should give that Lyle kid a chance. He seems pretty smart-"

"He has already taken up too much of my time today with distractions. As you are now doing."

Luornu gave up on being polite and glared.

"Why aren't you even _bothering_ to put some effort into this?" she demanded.

He looked at her impassively.

"Lyle said much the same thing. It made little sense then, as well."

"Into being_ nice_, Querl!" she exclaimed. "You can sit at a table for _hours_ and focus on a project, but if someone walks in the room you act like they don't exist or aren't worth your time. There are _some_ people in this galaxy who'd like to be _friendly_, but you make it _really_ hard!"

Luornu waited for a response, but got none.

"_Why?_ Why aren't you even trying a _little_ bit? Do you _like _getting yelled at all the time?"

Querl's head jerked towards her and he glared at her silently.

Triplicate Girl stood with her arms crossed, trying to pin down the emotion she could just see behind his eyes.

"_Well?_"

Whatever it was, Brainiac 5 forced it back again. He blinked, expression going perfectly blank; and went back to work.

* * *

><p>Salu had fled as soon as Andromeda has forced her way into the room, losing Colossal Boy in the process.<p>

She had enough to deal with without listening to a xenophobic Daxamite screaming at people, or a guy she'd barely just met trying to strike up a conversation.

Her stomach growled at her. It had been a long time since she ate the rest of the snacks she'd bought on coming into the city yesterday.

Where was the food in this building, anyway?

She started wandering and eventually came to a hallway that looked somewhat familiar, though there wasn't really much to distinguish them around here.

She picked the largest set of doors and reached for the keypad.

It swooshed open before she touched it, and suddenly she found herself at eye-level with the familiar Braalian disk-pattern.

Shrinking Violet looked up into the shocked face of Cosmic Boy.

There was a moment of surprised silence, and then she opened her mouth.

Immediately, Cosmic Boy spun around and took off, leaving her staring at a an empty common room.

"Excuse me?" she said softly to herself.

* * *

><p>Phantom Girl had finally figured out what had been bugging her all day. She hadn't seen Marla Latham at all yet. Usually he was down at breakfast, and stayed at the table for as long as he could so he'd have the chance to say 'good morning' to everyone.<p>

She phased through the building, checking all the rooms quickly. Eventually she found him up near the top floor, collapsed into his heavily-cushioned chair.

Tinya phased back in and walked over.

"Where've you been all day, Mr. Marla?"

He stood up, a little stiffly.

"I had a call, Tinya."

She thought of the time and raised an eyebrow.

"What, was it your mother?"

Marla smiled at her tiredly.

"No- it was yours."


End file.
